A REVIEW OF THE OCEAN RESEARCH PRIORITIES PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by a contract between the National Academy of Sciences and OCE-0602432 award/grant number from the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE JSOST RESEARCH PRIORITIES PLAN
ROBERT DUCE (Co-Chair),
Texas A&M University, College Station
NANCY TARGETT (Co-Chair),
University of Delaware, Lewes
DENISE BREITBURG,
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland
DAVID CONOVER,
State University of New York, Stony Brook
CORTIS COOPER,
Chevron Energy Technology Company, San Ramon, California
CATHERINE CUNNINGHAM BALLARD,
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Lansing
GERALD GALLOWAY,
University of Maryland, College Park
ROBERT KNOX,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
WILLIAM KUPERMAN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
ROGER LUKAS,
University of Hawaii, Honolulu
JAMES SANCHIRICO,
University of California, Davis
ANDREW SOLOW,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
DENISE STEPHENSON HAWK,
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
STAFF
SUSAN ROBERTS, Study Director
FRANK HALL, Program Officer
SUSAN PARK, Program Officer
TONI MIZEREK, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow
JEFFREY WATTERS, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow
JODI BOSTROM, Research Associate
NANCY CAPUTO, Research Associate
SARAH CAPOTE, Senior Program Assistant
OCEAN STUDIES BOARD
SHIRLEY A. POMPONI (Chair),
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Ft. Pierce, Florida
ROBERT G. BEA,
University of California, Berkeley
DONALD F. BOESCH,
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge
JORGE E. CORREDOR,
University of Puerto Rico, Lajas
KEITH R. CRIDDLE,
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau
MARY (MISSY) H. FEELEY,
ExxonMobil Exploration Company, Houston, Texas
HOLLY GREENING,
Tampa Bay National Estuary Program, St. Petersburg, Florida
DEBRA HERNANDEZ,
Hernandez and Company, Isle of Palms, South Carolina
ROBERT A. HOLMAN,
Oregon State University, Corvallis
CYNTHIA M. JONES,
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
KIHO KIM,
American University, Washington, D.C.
WILLIAM A. KUPERMAN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
ROBERT A. LAWSON,
Science Applications International Corporation, San Diego, California
FRANK E. MULLER-KARGER,
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
JAY S. PEARLMAN,
The Boeing Company, Kent, Washington
S. GEORGE H. PHILANDER,
Princeton University, New Jersey
RAYMOND W. SCHMITT,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
ANNE M. TREHU,
Oregon State University, Corvallis
STAFF
SUSAN ROBERTS, Director
SUSAN PARK, Program Officer
SHUBHA BANSKOTA, Financial Associate
PAMELA LEWIS, Administrative Coordinator
JODI BOSTROM, Research Associate
Preface
Ocean research is a complex and multidisciplinary enterprise. Coordination of such research, to achieve maximum benefit for science and society while minimizing duplication of effort, benefits from broad-based, integrated planning. The committee congratulates the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (JSOST) for undertaking, for the first time, a comprehensive planning activity that involved the very diverse ocean community and the many federal agencies that support ocean-related research in the United States. The committee believes that this work has opened the door to an exciting, ambitious, and critically important research effort that is vital for the nation’s future. The plan recognizes that synergies between and within agencies can enhance the outcomes and impacts of ocean science for the benefit of science and society. The task was challenging and difficult, but the final plan articulates a vision for ocean research that will be of great benefit to the ocean sciences community and the nation.
David Halpern (U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy), Margaret Leinen (National Science Foundation), and Richard Spinrad (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the initial co-chairs of the JSOST, approached the National Research Council’s Division on Earth and Life Studies in August 2005 to assist with this research planning effort by reviewing the Ocean Research Priorities Plan in both the draft and the final forms.
This document consists of two parts: the committee’s review of the draft plan (Part I) and the committee’s review of the final plan (Part II). In Part I, the committee evaluated the draft Ocean Research Priorities Plan for its responsiveness to the nation’s needs for ocean research and presented its own recommendations for improving the plan. Part I of this report was released to the public on November 30, 2006.
The JSOST issued the revised, final Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy on January 26, 2007. For the review of the
final plan, the JSOST co-chairs, Julie Morris (National Science Foundation), Richard Spinrad (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and Daniel Walker (U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy), asked the committee to comment on how the plan evolved in response to input from the ocean community, to suggest mechanisms for ensuring community-wide planning and implementation, and to recommend processes to assess progress on, and re-evaluation of, research priorities. Part II presents the committee’s findings and recommendations on these topics.
The committee held three meetings and four conference calls during the preparation of Part I. The committee’s first meeting was held in April 2006 in conjunction with the Denver workshop organized by the JSOST to provide community input into the development of the draft research plan. At this workshop, committee members observed the various breakout sessions that discussed the themes and cross-cut areas outlined in the planning document. At subsequent committee meetings, the committee discussed the draft research plan, wrote Part I of the report, discussed the partial draft plan made available on July 28, 2006, and reviewed the complete draft plan that included the near-term priorities released on August 30, 2006.
For Part II, the review of the final Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy, Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States for the Next Decade, the committee held one meeting and convened one conference call.
The committee and its co-chairs are especially appreciative of the significant support that was forthcoming from the staff of the Ocean Studies Board. Their assistance facilitated the work of the committee and contributed to the formation of an enjoyable and productive working environment. In particular we thank study director Dr. Susan Roberts for her leadership and insight. We also recognize and thank program officer Dr. Susan Park for her assistance throughout the study and program officer Dr. Frank Hall who was involved with the early work of the committee. Ms. Toni Mizerek and Mr. Jeff Watters were a great help during their tenure with the National Research Council as graduate fellows for the Ocean Studies Board. We are also grateful to Ms. Sarah Capote and Ms. Nancy Caputo for their superb skills in organizing the committee meetings and conference calls. The committee feels that the positive, accomplishment-oriented attitudes of each of these individuals enhanced the final outcome of the study.
Robert Duce and Nancy Targett, Committee Co-Chairs
Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of Part I of this report:
LEE G. ANDERSON, University of Delaware, Newark
KATHERINE ANDREWS, Coastal States Organization, Washington, D.C.
ROBERT G. BEA, University of California, Berkeley
PAULA COBLE, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
RUSS E. DAVIS, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
EARL H. DOYLE, Shell Oil (retired), Sugar Land, Texas
PAUL G. GAFFNEY, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey
EDWARD D. HOUDE, University of Maryland, Solomons
EDWARD LAWS, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
MOLLY MCCAMMON, Alaska Ocean Observing System, Anchorage
PETER J. MCCARTHY, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, Florida
MARCIA K. MCNUTT, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California
ANTHONY F. MICHAELS, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
R. KEITH MICHEL, Herbert Engineering Corporation, Alameda, California
We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of Part II of this report:
KATHERINE ANDREWS, Coastal States Organization, Washington, D.C.
EARL H. DOYLE, Shell Oil (retired), Sugar Land, Texas
EDWARD D. HOUDE, University of Maryland, Solomons
DEWITT JOHN, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
SALLY MCGEE, Environmental Defense, Mystic, Connecticut
ANDREW A. ROSENBERG, University of New Hampshire, Durham
RAYMOND W. SCHMITT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release.
The review of Part I of this report was overseen by Kenneth H. Brink, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, and Alexander H. Flax, consultant, Columbia, Maryland. The review of Part II of this report was overseen by Garry D. Brewer, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, and Alexander H. Flax, consultant, Columbia, Maryland. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.