About OCB

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) program focuses on the ocean’s role as a component of the global Earth system, bringing together research in geochemistry, ocean physics, and ecology that inform on and advance our understanding of ocean biogeochemistry. The overall program goals are to promote, plan, and coordinate collaborative, multidisciplinary research opportunities within the U.S. research community and with international partners. Important OCB-related activities currently include: the Ocean Carbon and Climate Change (OCCC) and the North American Carbon Program (NACP); U.S. contributions to IMBER, SOLAS, CARBOOCEAN; and numerous U.S. single-investigator and medium-size research projects funded by NASA, NOAA, and NSF.

OCB will support any project at the request of the PI(s) that falls within our broad scientific priorities; projects can be already underway or in the planning stage, and the scope can be from an individual scientist to multi-scientist teams. Support from OCB could include helping to publicize upcoming field opportunities, facilitate collaboration from different research teams, disseminate research findings, data sets and model products, and develop and share educational and public outreach material. OCB does not approve or endorse any particular research project---that is the role of the peer review process and the federal science agencies. Instead, OCB will make recommendations on research topics and priorities within the framework of ocean biogeochemistry and related ecological science.

 

OCB Scientific Steering Committee

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Scientific Steering Committee (OCB-SSC) was formed in February 2006. The OCB-SSC was created jointly by NSF, NASA and NOAA to provide critical leadership to the OCB community by helping to identify research priorities and promote, plan, and coordinate collaborative, multidisciplinary research opportunities in ocean biogeochemistry. SSC members serve a term of three years. Parentheses indicate term end (end of year) for each member.

Scott Doney (WHOI) (Chair) (2011)
Bob Anderson (LDEO) (2010)
Ginger Armbrust (UW) (2010)
Kathy Barbeau (Scripps) (2010)
Craig Carlson (UCSB) (2012)
Mary-Elena Carr (Columbia Univ.) (2010)
Kendra Daly (USF) (2011)
Curtis Deutsch (UCLA) (2011)
Richard Feely (NOAA/PMEL) (2011)
David Hutchins (USC) (2012)
Kenneth Johnson (MBARI) (2012)
Joanie Kleypas (NCAR) (2010)
Cindy Lee (Stonybrook) (2012)
Steve Lohrenz (Univ. S. Mississippi) (2010)
Mary Jane Perry (UMaine) (2011)
Tammi Richardson (Univ. S. Carolina) (2010)
Chris Sabine (NOAA/PMEL) (ex-officio)
Taro Takahashi (LDEO) (2012)
Walker Smith (VIMS) (2011)

 

OCB Project Office

Scott Doney, Executive Scientist
Heather Benway, Executive Officer
Sarah Cooley, Ocean Acidification Scientist
Mary Zawoysky, Administrative Associate

The OCB Project Office facilitates activities initiated, organized and coordinated by the OCB Scientific Steering Committee. Broadly speaking, these roles fall in to four categories: 1) Direct logistical support to the SSC for its meetings, production of reports and other SSC activities; 2) Facilitate and promote communication of these SSC activities to the national and international scientific community and broader audiences, and serve as a clearing house for information related to U.S. and international ocean carbon cycle science programs; 3) Organize community workshops, symposia, and, 4) Education and outreach activities, including promotion of ocean carbon science to broader audiences, policy makers, and underrepresented students. The OCB Project Office also publishes the OCB Newsletter OCB News.

 

OCB Annual Summer Science Workshop

The OCB Project Office advertises, supports, and coordinates the annual OCB summer science workshop.  The dates, theme(s), and thematic session chairs are chosen by the OCB-SSC. In addition to plenary sessions on timely state-of-the-art science, the OCB summer workshop provides a forum for community discussion of new research directions and opportunities. The Project Office publishes a meeting report in Eos after the workshop and speakers’ talks and breakout session notes are posted on the workshop website as soon as possible during or after the meeting. Due to the increasing popularity of the summer workshop, the Project Office has also started to utilize web-broadcasting technology to encourage external input and dissemination of workshop ideas to non-participants.

 

OCB Scoping Workshops

In addition to its broader multi-disciplinary annual summer science workshop, the OCB Project Office provides limited support for two focused scoping workshops per year that target specific OCB research priorities, providing a public venue for members of the research community to discuss research challenges and implementation approaches. Please see the most recent scoping workshop solicitation for more information. PIs of funded scoping workshop proposals should consult the guidelines for planning OCB scoping workshops.

Upcoming Scoping Workshops

September 21-23, 2010: "Sea change: Charting the course for ecological and biogeochemical ocean time-series research" (University of Hawaii Manoa, Honolulu, HI)

November 7-10, 2010: "The molecular biology of biogeochemistry: Using molecular methods to link ocean chemistry with biological activity" (University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA)

Previous Scoping Workshops

Ocean Acidification (October 2007)

Terrestrial and Coastal Carbon Fluxes in the Gulf of Mexico (May 2008)

Observing Biogeochemical Cycles at Global Scales with Profiling Floats and Gliders (April 2009)

New Frontiers in Southern Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (June 2009)

 

OCB Travel Support

In an ongoing effort to strengthen ties to other U.S. and international carbon cycle science programs (e.g., IMBER, SOLAS, IOCCP, etc.), the OCB Project Office has limited funds for U.S. (OCB) participation in workshops and meetings that advance the programmatic mission of OCB. Given these very limited resources, we prioritize participation in workshops and meetings that will result in a tangible product or outcome to promote OCB scientific implementation and community building. For scientific interest, the Project Office maintains a continually updated list of OCB-relevant national and international scientific meetings, and we encourage the OCB community to seek support directly from federal agencies via the proposal submission process for participation in these meetings.

The OCB SSC will review travel support requests twice a year, once in January, and once in July. The corresponding deadlines for submitting requests will be January 15 and July 15. Please consider these deadlines relative to the timing of your meeting. Please provide a 1-2 page description of the meeting, including its programmatic importance to OCB, detailing the amount of your request. OCB is a U.S. program, and therefore our priority is to support U.S. scientists. Travel support requests are typically <$2-3K, but under unusual circumstances, the OCB Project Office will consider requests up to $5-10K. Proposals should be sent directly to the OCB Project Office.

Examples of previous OCB Project Office travel awards include:

 

Ocean Time-Series Advisory Committee

OCB SSC member Ken Johnson is the chair of the Ocean Time-Series Advisory Committee (OTSAC), which is charged with reviewing existing ocean biogeochemical time-series (e.g., HOT, BATS, CARIACO), developing recommendations to improve the effectiveness and inter-comparability of these time-series, and interfacing with the OCB research community to identify and communicate the needs for existing and future time-series sites.

 

NAME
INSTITUTION
Ken Johnson (Chair) MBARI
Debbie Bronk
VIMS
Craig Carlson
UCSB
Steve Emerson
UW
Dennis McGillicuddy
WHOI
Chris Sabine
NOAA/PMEL

 

At the end of August 2007, OTSAC distributed a questionnaire to PIs at the three ocean time-series under review (BATS, HOT, and CARIACO). The questionnaire was designed to 1) Collect information on a wide array of chemical, physical, and biological parameters that were currently being measured, as well as what was proposed in the 2007 renewal submissions to NSF; and 2) Identify the needs of the time-series sites. Based on the responses to the questionnaire, OTSAC members submitted an initial summary report to the OCB SSC. The report includes a tabular summary of measurements being made at each time-series site (HOT, BATS, CARIACO) as they relate to core measurements specified by the 1996 JGOFS Time-Series Oversight Committee. The report also highlights specific data inter-comparability issues among the three sites for future consideration.

 

Ocean Acidification Subcommittee

Ocean acidification is a high priority research topic identified by OCB. The far-reaching effects of ocean acidification on marine biogeochemical cycles and biology, combined with the increasing interest in the topic both nationally and internationally, prompted the OCB-SSC to recommend the formation of an Ocean Acidification Subcommittee. With approval from the OCB-SSC, the Ocean Acidification subcommittee members were invited from the U.S. community of researchers to cover the spectrum of topics relevant to ocean acidification.

The ocean acidification subcommittee is responsible for collecting and disseminating information relevant to ocean acidification research, meetings, funding opportunities, congressional updates, international activities, etc. The Subcommittee tracks current research and makes recommendations regarding future research needs. For more information about national and international ocean acidification activities, please visit the OCB ocean acidification website. View a list of 2008-2009 OCB Ocean Acidification activities and highlights.

 

NAME
AFFILIATION
Dick Feely (Co-Chair) NOAA/PMEL
Joan Kleypas (Co-Chair)
NCAR
Bigelow Laboratory
WHOI
CSU-San Marco
Jean-Pierre Gattuso
CNRS
USC
Univ. of Miami
USGS
Richard Zeebe
Univ. of Hawaii

 

 

Ocean Fertilization Subcommittee

Projected increases in atmospheric CO2 levels and potential associated changes in the earth's climate have prompted scientists and engineers to devise strategies for removing some of this CO2 from the atmosphere. One such strategy involves the addition of micronutrients such as iron to the ocean to stimulate phytoplankton activity, thus increasing photosynthesis and subsequent removal of atmospheric CO2. Understanding the importance of keeping the OCB community connected to ocean fertilization science and policy activities, the OCB SSC recently identified the need for an ocean fertilization subcommittee. With oversight from this subcommittee, the OCB Project Office is currently developing a website as a clearinghouse of ocean fertilization news and informational resources to support the OCB community.

This OCB subcommittee is charged with:

 

NAME
AFFILIATION
WHOI
Columbia University
University of Maine
University of South Florida
David Karl
University of Hawaii
NOAA/GFDL

 

 

Relationship to Other Carbon Research Projects

Two efforts are underway to improve communication and to coordinate existing and new U.S. ocean biogeochemistry research programs. The first, Ocean Carbon and Climate Change (OCCC) was established in 2005 and focuses directly on the ocean carbon system and its interaction with the atmosphere and land carbon reservoirs. OCCC is part of the U.S. Global Change Research Program Interagency Partnership Carbon Cycle Science Program and is the marine counterpart of the North American Carbon Program (NACP). Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) was established in February 2006 by the NSF, NASA and NOAA and will focus more broadly on marine biogeochemistry (including carbon), ecology and the U.S. research communities involved in OCCC, SOLAS and IMBER. The OCB and OCCC have a joint Scientific Steering Committee (OCB-SSC), chaired by Scott Doney. The efforts of the two steering entities will be closely interrelated because the OCCC-SSG members are a sub-group of the OCB-SSC. An OCCC Implementation Strategy was published in 2004 (Doney et al., 2004) outlining a program of oceanic monitoring and research aimed at determining how much carbon dioxide is being taken up by the ocean at the present time and how climate change will affect the future behavior of the carbon sink.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

 

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