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OAP Ocean Outlook
Fall 2024
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In this issue: Welcome to OAP’s first online newsletter. Hear from OAP’s new Director Dr. Sarah Cooley, learn about upcoming events and opportunities and what’s hot off the press, and see the research and collaboration highlights from this fall. |
View online
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A message from our director:
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Fall Greetings to the OA Community!
Fall brought many firsts for OAP, including a new fiscal year, this inaugural online quarterly newsletter and my first months as OAP’s Director. OAP has always been the center of federal science efforts to connect science, outcomes of changes in the ocean carbon cycle, and the needs of people when it comes to ocean change. I’ve worked on these three topics my entire career, and very often hand-in-hand with OAP as an outside partner. I’m so honored to lead the program now!
I’m really looking forward to working with you to shed more light on how ocean and coastal acidification affect our marine systems and the people who depend on them, and what the solutions include. The challenge to our community is clear: in an increasingly busy ocean experiencing overlapping changes, identifying ocean acidification’s unique role requires dedicated detective work, and understanding the merit of proposed solutions requires a wide field of view. To me, this challenge generates endless fascinating and exciting research questions.
This fall, our community has released impactful publications, hosted important convenings, released research guidance and established new partnerships. We expect the rest of this fiscal year to bring even more great research outcomes and fruitful partnerships. See below for how you can help us tell these stories, and better illustrate OAP’s impact!
See more about Sarah and her story. |
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Join us for the annual OA Day of Action, an event led by The Ocean Foundation. Held on 8 January, 2025, it represents the average global pH of 8.1 and aims to call attention and promote awareness of ocean acidification. During this week, we’ll actively solicit your contributions on social media and feature actions supported by OAP research and products. Please use #OADayOfAction and tag us in your own posts. |
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Celebrate and share your story!
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As the year winds down, help us celebrate successes by telling us how OAP has helped you or your communities. Your contributions can help shape our program and community’s futures and be featured online as desired. Share with us here or send us an email: noaa.oceanacidification@noaa.gov. |
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Funding & Job Opportunities
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Soliciting East Coast Acidification Cruise Proposals
Submit a proposal to complement core observing activities on the upcoming East Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise (ECOA-4). The coastal research cruise targets U.S. Coastal Large Marine Ecosystems on the North American East Coast from the Scotian Shelf to the port of Miami, extending from shore to beyond the shelf break. Visit us for more information, the recorded informational webinar and to apply. Image: ECOA-3 CTD Ops at Sunset. Credit: Liza Wright-Fairbanks, NOAA OAP
DFO-NOAA OA Collaborative Funding Open
The DFO-NOAA OA Collaboration is pleased to announce its FY25 funding opportunity in support of early career scientists promoting bilateral research. Don’t miss out - applications are due January 17, 2025. See the full announcement and apply here.
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Seeking Four National Synthesis Postdoctoral Fellows
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OAP Brings Research Communities Together
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OAP held the second annual meeting of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Observing Network (NOA-ON) Workshop in October. Each NOA-ON node lead and their technicians participated in the 2-day workshop to discuss NOA-ON data quality, management, and products, broadcast successful data management within the network, and brainstorm ways to build regional data user relationships. NOA-ON also connected with Sunburst Sensors to discuss data quality and sensor developments. Finally, OAP provided additional transparency on OAP and NOAA’s data management requirements and priorities.
OAP convened a Regional OA Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment Workshop for current and for potential applicants to the open regional vulnerability assessment (RVA) funding call for the next assessments. Attendees heard about successes and lessons learned from recent RVA assessment projects. They then participated in topical discussions for engaging Indigenous communities, working in data-poor regions, how to build interdisciplinary teams, and frameworks for assessing vulnerability. One aim of this workshop was to provide a networking opportunity for natural and social scientists to connect. |
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5 Projects for OA Research Cruises |
OAP announces five projects selected for funding through the Ocean Acidification Coastal Research: Uniting Investigations and Shipboard Experiments (OA CRUISE) opportunity. The projects will expand the observing and experimental capacity of oceanographic research cruises. Selected proposals will receive funds and ship time to conduct companion projects aboard two upcoming cruises on the West Coast and Gulf of Mexico. Specifically, these projects will characterize plankton dynamics and community structure, develop gene expression indicators, constrain coastal carbonate systems and augment shipboard capacity.
Learn more about each project.
Image: NOAA Ship Ron Brown, Credit: Jeremy Potter, NOAA OAR/OER |
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First Ever Cari-CAN Workshop |
Welcome to our newest coastal acidification network, the Caribbean CAN (Cari-CAN)! Cari-CAN held a first ever workshop for engagement and to establish regional priorities. Attendees took a pre-workshop survey and identified key topics for discussion. 25 participants attended in person, representing coral reef restoration practitioners, the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, the University of Puerto Rico, JOBOS BAY National Estuarine Research Reserve, NGOs, the private sector, students, among others. The workshop report is in progress.
Image: La Parguera Buoy. Credit: Climate Change Council, Puerto Rico |
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OAP Back to School |
OAP celebrated NOAA’s Back to School Month and keeps it going by releasing a new education toolkits section on the website and adding 30+ educational resources to the searchable Resources page. Educators and others can search for curricula, videos and multimedia, infographics, and more for specific audiences and ages. Check out this fall’s featured education toolkit focused on the Pacific Northwest called “What’s That Commotion in Our Ocean?” Also, don’t miss the four-part Ocean Acidification education video series in English and Spanish, created by the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Acidification Network. |
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Dashing Data! |
Don’t know where to go to access ocean acidification data or user-friendly tools? Save time by visiting OAP’s new data page where you can access OAP-supported data and data tools. Or
Don’t see something you need? Tell us at noaa.oceanacidifciation@noaa.gov. |
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OAP, GOMO Fund $3M for Optimizing Ocean Carbon Observing |
It’s a triple hit! OAP, in partnership with NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing (GOMO) Program, will fund three projects for more than $3M years over three years for ocean carbon optimization studies. This work aims to optimize sampling strategies that improve carbonate chemistry observing systems geared towards delivering data required to support the specific decision support needs for end users such as resource managers, shellfish harvesters or growers, and researchers.
The projects will enhance capacity in the Great Lakes, provide data products to users in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem and use machine learning to valuate surface ocean carbon observations.
Image: Researchers launch a CTD rosette for collecting water samples in the Gulf of Mexico on the GOMECC3 research cruise. Credit: Joletta Silva, University of Miami-RSMAS |
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mCDR News |
Check out the first National Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) Research Strategy, released in November. The Strategy, drafted by the mCDR Fast-Track Action Committee led by NOAA OAP's Dr. Gabby Kitch, outlines how the U.S. government can accelerate research on mCDR to safely and effectively determine whether these approaches can serve as viable climate solutions.
NOAA and nonprofit Carbon to Sea Initiative partner on mCDR data management. The new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to develop data management guidelines for mCDR was announced November 19, 2024. The three year partnership will focus on developing community-led best practices for consistent metadata, data templates and controlled vocabularies to promote transparency, knowledge sharing and responsible management.
Image: mCDR Approaches. Credit: Sarah Battle, NOAA PMEL |
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Estuaries and Acidification Webinar Series
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The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification (IWG-OA) hosted a 3-part “Estuaries and Acidification” Webinar Series this fall. The goal was to bring together researchers, resource managers, industry leaders, and other interested community members to discuss the most important research gaps around acidification in estuaries for the federal government to address. |
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Webinar 1: Setting the stage for the rest of the series and a future workshop, this webinar gave an overview of coastal acidification, the importance of studying acidification in estuaries, and the role that federal agencies currently play in monitoring and researching acidification in estuaries. |
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Webinar 2: This webinar provided discussion of remaining research gaps in estuaries and how we can assess short-term acidification events and long-term trends in estuaries. |
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Webinar 3: This webinar provided examples and was a conversation where acidification science can inform coastal management decisions or serve community and industry needs. |
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