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We ensure our Program and its research portfolio meet the highest standards for quality, relevance and performance.

Every five years, the NOAA Research Science Council conducts a retrospective program review to discuss the direction of the program, to gain a full understanding of the processes involved, and to make recommendations on how to achieve the highest level of organizational excellence.  Review the materials from our most recent review (2020) below. 

2020 Review Panel Members

Dr. Kim Yates
Dr. Yates is a senior research oceanographer at the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Center for Coastal and Marine Science (SPCMSC). She is also a member of the U.S. Interagency Work Group on Ocean Acidification (IWG-OA), the Executive and founding Steering Committees of the Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN),member of the Gulf Coastal Acidification Network (GCAN), and served as Co-Chair of the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry – Ocean Acidification Subcommittee (OCB-OA). She specializes in integrated science studies that examine how changes in coastal ecosystem processes may impact or mitigate risks from coastal hazards, using a whole system perspective that considers the interactions and linkages among chemistry, biology and the physical environment. Much of her recent work has focused on how coral reef seafloor erosion changes risks from sea level rise, waves and storms; impacts on coral reefs and estuaries from coastal and ocean acidification; and identifying and characterizing coastal climate change refuges. She also has been an active researcher in the field of ocean acidification within coral reef ecosystems for 15 years and has lead the development of innovative technologies including the Submersible Habitat for Assessing Reef Quality (SHARQ) and instrumenting a USF-COMPS (C12_WQ) buoy with an ocean acidification sensor suite.
Dr. Scott Doney
Dr. Doney’s expertise spans oceanography, climate and biogeochemistry, with particular emphasis on the application of numerical models and data analysis methods to global-scale questions.
Much of his research focuses on how the global carbon cycle and ocean ecology respond to natural and human-driven climate change. One of his current areas of study is ocean acidification due to the invasion into the ocean of carbon dioxide and other chemicals from fossil fuel burning. He is the author of nearly 300 peer reviewed research publications and co-author of a textbook on data analysis and modeling methods for the marine sciences.
Hedy Edmonds
Henrietta (Hedy) Edmonds is currently the Lead Program Officer for Chemical Oceanography in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences. She came to NSF in 2009 from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute where she was on the faculty for ten years. While a program officer for NSF’s Arctic Natural Sciences (ANS) program, Hedy was part of the team that developed and managed NSF’s Ocean Acidification program (2010-2015), and she has overseen several awards made during that program by both ANS and Chemical Oceanography. She moved to the Chemical Oceanography program in 2016. She has broad interests in marine geochemistry and the global carbon cycle stemming from her time at NSF and her research career at UT, the National Oceanography Centre (UK), the University of Rhode Island, and the MIT/WHOI Joint Program.
Dr. Sarah Cooley
Dr. Cooley has served as the the Director of the Ocean Acidification Program at the Ocean Conservancy based in Washington, DC since 2016. There she works to support interdisciplinary science to understand OA, develops strategic communications to build understanding and awareness of the issue, and engages with bipartisan groups to drive policy development. Prior to that Dr. Cooley was a researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where she studied OA issues and served as a technical editor for the American Meteorological Society. Her research has used oceanographic and social science data to forecast the total consequences of human-driven changes in the marine inorganic carbon cycle. Her research increasingly incorporates ecology, sociology, economics, resource management, risk assessment, and decision making under uncertainty.
Dr. Jason Grear
Dr. Grear is a Research Ecologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development. His research at the EPA focuses on interactions between nutrients, biota, carbonate chemistry and hypoxia in coastal ecosystems. His experiments focus on ecological scaling issues, including prediction of population-level processes from the organism-level observations that dominate research on environmental impacts of human activity. Dr. Grear earmed his M.S. degree from the University of Florida in 1992 and his PhD from Yale in 2003, both in the field of Ecology. He joined EPA as a postdoctoral research ecologist in 2003, where he has remained ever since.
Dr. Meredith White
Dr. White leads research and development efforts at the Mook Sea Farm, an oyster farm founded in 1985 on the Damariscotta River in Midcoast Maine. We rear the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) from egg to adult size. Originally from Massachusetts, She received her BS from Lafayette College and her PhD in Biological Oceanography from the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography. Before joining Mook Sea Farm in 2016, Meredith’s research focused primarily on understanding the effects of ocean acidification on a variety of marine organisms.
Dr. Meredith White
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2020 Program Review Documentation

Review Agenda
Charge to Reviewers
Review Panel Summary Report
Response to Panel Reccomendations

OAP Program Review

19 Videos

Watch the 2020 Program Review Recordings

Relevant Documents

FOARAM Act 2009 Legislation

2010 NOAA Ocean and Great Lakes Acidification Research Plan

NOAA Ocean Acidification Education Implementation Plan

2014 IWGOA Strategic Plan (Supplemental Reading Resource)

2016 IWGOA Implementation Plan (Supplemental Reading Resource)

OAR Strategy 2020-2026 (Supplemental Reading Resource)

2020 NOAA Ocean and Great Lakes Acidification Research Plan (Supplemental Reading Resource)

NOAA R&D Vision Areas (Supplemental Reading Resource)

OAP Publication Analysis FY15-19

OAP Publication List FY15-19

Reviewers Only

Summary Report Outline & Requirements

Review Evaluation Worksheets

Example OAR Review Final Summary Report

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ADAPTING TO OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) works to prepare society to adapt to the consequences of ocean acidification and conserve marine ecosystems as acidification occurs. Learn more about the human connections and adaptation strategies from these efforts.

Adaptation approaches fostered by the OAP include:

FORECASTING

Using models and research to understand the sensitivity of organisms and ecosystems to ocean acidification to make predictions about the future, allowing communities and industries to prepare

MANAGEMENT

Using these models and predictions as tools to facilitate management strategies that will protect marine resources and communities from future changes

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Developing innovative tools to help monitor ocean acidification and mitigate changing ocean chemistry locally

REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

50 more ways to reduce your carbon footprint >

On the Road

Drive fuel-efficient vehicles or choose public transportation. Choose your bike or walk! Don't sit idle for more than 30 seconds. Keep your tires properly inflated.

With your Food Choices

Eat local- this helps cut down on production and transport! Reduce your meat and dairy. Compost to avoid food waste ending up in the landfill

With your Food Choices

Make energy-efficient choices for your appliances and lighting. Heat and cool efficiently! Change your air filters and program your thermostat, seal and insulate your home, and support clean energy sources

By Reducing Coastal Acidification

Reduce your use of fertilizers, Improve sewage treatment and run off, and Protect and restore coastal habitats

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TAKE ACTION WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

You've taken the first step to learn more about ocean acidification - why not spread this knowledge to your community?

Every community has their unique culture, economy and ecology and what’s at stake from ocean acidification may be different depending on where you live.  As a community member, you can take a larger role in educating the public about ocean acidification. Creating awareness is the first step to taking action.  As communities gain traction, neighboring regions that share marine resources can build larger coalitions to address ocean acidification.  Here are some ideas to get started:

  1. Work with informal educators, such as aquarium outreach programs and local non-profits, to teach the public about ocean acidification. Visit our Education & Outreach page to find the newest tools!
  2. Participate in habitat restoration efforts to restore habitats that help mitigate the effects of coastal acidification
  3. Facilitate conversations with local businesses that might be affected by ocean acidification, building a plan for the future.
  4. Partner with local community efforts to mitigate the driver behind ocean acidification  – excess CO2 – such as community supported agriculture, bike & car shares and other public transportation options.
  5. Contact your regional Coastal Acidification Network (CAN) to learn how OA is affecting your region and more ideas about how you can get involved in your community
       More for Taking Community Action