Author Archive for mmaheigan

BioGeoSCAPES Science Plan

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Monday, October 19th, 2026 
The BioGeoSCAPES Community has reached an exciting milestone: the official program launch and endorsement by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the publication of the Science Plan [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23465636]. With this approval, BioGeoSCAPES is now a SCOR Program. BioGeoSCAPES remains an open and welcoming community of interdisciplinary scientists, and we encourage the community to share the Science Plan broadly with scientists and funding agencies that would like to engage in the program.
The Science Plan contains an Introduction and Executive Summary, as well as three chapters on the States, Rates, and Fates research themes that emerged from the Science Planning Workshop. The plan also includes an Implementation chapter authored by the International Implementation Committee, and this committee has now transitioned to becoming the Scientific Steering Committee. Sixty-three authors contributed to the Science Plan, and multiple rounds of internal and external SCOR review were conducted in the process of vetting this plan.
We invite the community to join a BioGeoSCAPES webinar on November 10, 2026, offered in two sessions to accommodate as many time zones as possible:
Each session will provide an overview of the Science Plan, recent activities, and next steps, including opportunities to join Standing Committees. Please attend whichever session works best for you.
A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page is also available on the website.
BioGeoSCAPES is on social media on LinkedIn and BlueSky [https://www.linkedin.com/company/biogeoscapes/home/
https://bsky.app/profile/biogeoscapes.bsky.social].
We thank the community for their extensive input and engagement throughout this process.
Sincerely,
The BioGeoSCAPES Scientific Steering Committee

AGU workshop on alkalinity exports to sea from blue carbon ecosystems

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Wednesday, October 14th, 2026 
Dear colleagues,
We’re in touch to bring your attention to an AGU workshop on alkalinity exports to sea from blue carbon ecosystems, occurring on the Sunday prior to the upcoming fall meeting in San Francisco, California. Science and policy around alkalinity and carbon exports from salt marshes and mangroves have progressed significantly toward representation as a carbon sink in GHG inventories and in carbon markets. Our intent in this and related activities is to work toward: a common understanding of the significance of these exports, a continual improvement and standardization of methods, and a common interpretation of data. In the workshop a team of researchers will convey our most up to date understanding of the processes and key observation methods, based new research carried out in projects including: CNEWTS,NASA CMS-LF, and COLDSHIFT.
We hope to see you there! And please forward to interested parties.
SCIWS29 – Robust Approaches to Measure and Monitor Lateral Carbon & Alkalinity Flux in Tidal Wetlands
Sunday December 6, 2026
13:00 – 16:30 PST
Moscone Center, Room 304 – South
 
Workshop Overview
Salt marshes and mangroves are increasingly recognized as important “blue carbon” ecosystems, capable of sequestering large amounts of atmospheric carbon through sediment burial. A substantial—and often dominant—portion of marsh carbon is laterally exported to coastal waters as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and total alkalinity (TA) during tidal flooding and drainage. Despite its importance for coastal carbon and alkalinity budgets, for interpretation of bottom-up and top-down monitoring of carbon budget, and for improvements to Earth System Models, lateral fluxes remain as a major uncertainty in wetland biogeochemical cycles.
This scientific workshop will bring together researchers to synthesize current understanding, evaluate methods, and build consensus around best practices for measuring, interpreting, and scaling lateral dissolved carbon and alkalinity exports from tidal wetlands. The workshop is motivated by new research demonstrating that lateral exports might substantially exceed carbon burial, but that rates can vary widely across space and time.
How to register for the workshop:
  1. Meeting registration is now open and you are encouraged to register by the early deadline of 5 November to take advantage of discounted rates.
  2. Do not select “Skip to Housing”
  3. At ‘Ticketed Events’
    • Select Workshops
    • Click load more
  4. Find ‘Robust Approaches…’
  5. Add the workshop
  6. Cost is $90
 
How to add a workshop if you have already registered for the conference:
    1. Return to the official AGU26 Attend page and click the Register and Book Housing link.
    2. Log in using the same AGU account credentials you used to purchase your main meeting ticket.
    3. Select the option to Add Events.
    4. Navigate to the add-ons or “Scientific Workshops” step, choose your desired session, and complete the check-out process for the workshop fee.
Who Should Attend
This workshop is designed for marine and coastal scientists, including biogeochemists, chemical oceanographers, ecologists, hydrologists, modelers, postdocs, and graduate students working in tidal wetlands, estuaries, and nearshore systems. It is also highly relevant for researchers interested in blue carbon accounting, carbon markets, coastal acidification, sea-level rise impacts, and the coupling between terrestrial, atmospheric, and oceanic carbon cycles. Early career scientists and students will especially benefit from exposure to state-of-the-art tools and conceptual frameworks in this rapidly developing field.
Why Participate
Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the physical, hydrological, and biogeochemical processes that regulate lateral carbon and alkalinity fluxes. The workshop will highlight complementary measurement approaches, including high frequency time‑series observations and concentration modeling in tidal creeks, and tracer-based flux calculations used to distinguish carbon sources and pathways. By addressing different measurement techniques and the spatiotemporal scales they integrate, the workshop will help determine “best practices” in quantifying lateral flux.
Key Takeaways
By the end of the workshop, participants will:
  • Understand the dominant controls on lateral DOC, DIC, and TA export from tidal wetlands, including physical, hydrological, and biogeochemical processes.
  • Be familiar with leading observational and tracer-based methods for quantifying lateral carbon fluxes and their uncertainties.
  • Gain insight into how lateral exports influence coastal ocean carbon cycling and alkalinity dynamics.
  • Contribute to community dialogue aimed at developing standardized approaches for scaling lateral carbon fluxes from site to regional scales.
Ultimately, the workshop aims to move the community toward a unified framework for recognizing lateral carbon exports as a critical component of tidal wetland blue carbon and its role in the coastal carbon cycle.
Learning Outcomes: 
  • Provide participants with foundational knowledge on lateral carbon exports, or outwelling, from tidal wetlands
  • Define “best practices” for quantifying lateral carbon fluxes from different measurement techniques
  • Identify the unique spatiotemporal scales of consideration for different measurement techniques
  • Identify the various environmental (e.g., hydrologic, climatological) drivers that modulate lateral carbon fluxes
  • Define how to upscale flux results for comparison to other coastal carbon sources and sinks, and other study sites
  • Understand uncertainties and limitations in measurement techniques
 
Agenda & Engagement Plan: 
  • Introduction; Foundational knowledge:
    • Defining lateral carbon exports, or carbon outwelling, from tidal wetlands
    • Recognition of different subsurface pathways as vectors of C
    • Biogeochemical processes that modify carbon exports (in subsurface vs surface waters)
    • The role of alkalinity and acidity
    • Spatiotemporal scales of consideration
  • “Best practices” for quantifying lateral carbon fluxes:
    • Time-series method
      • Field strategies
      • Sensor optimization
      • Quantifying channelized flow
      • Overland flow corrections
      • Terrestrial groundwater corrections
      • Concentration modeling
      • Data integration and uncertainty
    • Tracer-based methods
      • Field strategies
      • Endmember mixing models
      • Time-series mass balances
      • Basin-scale mass balances
      • Model parameterization and uncertainty
  • Discussion
    • Spatiotemporal scales of consideration
    • Environmental drivers of lateral carbon flux (physical, hydrological, and biogeochemical processes)
    • Upscaling results
Learning Focus: Technical Skills for Science
Knowledge & Career Level: 
This workshop intends to target any scientist or trainee interested in learning about lateral carbon flux. This includes graduate students, research technicians, early-career scientists, and senior scientists.
Target Audience:
This workshop is designed for marine and coastal scientists, including biogeochemists, chemical oceanographers, ecologists, hydrologists, modelers, and graduate students working in tidal wetlands, estuaries, and nearshore systems. It is also highly relevant for researchers interested in blue carbon accounting, coastal acidification, sea-level rise impacts, and the coupling between terrestrial, atmospheric, and oceanic carbon cycles.
Kroeger and Tamborski both co-convene the AGU session Coastal wetland carbon and nitrogen cycles: Recent advances in measurements, modeling, and syntheses. This session has attracted robust numbers of submissions and attendance each year for more than 10 years, and participants will be our core target audience for this workshop.
Participants:
  • Proposal submitters/organizers:
    • Kevin Kroeger (Yale)
    • Joseph Tamborski (ODU)
    • Meagan Eagle (USGS)
    • Aleck Wang (WHOI)
  • Presenters:
    • Kevin Kroeger (Yale), workshop introduction; goals
    • Meagan Eagle (USGS), physical, hydrological, biogeochemical processes influencing lateral carbon fluxes
    • Aleck Wang (WHOI), time-series method introduction
    • Sophie Kuhl (WHOI), on recent time-series lateral flux estimates for 6 unique marshes in Cape Cod, MA
    • Joseph Tamborski (ODU), tracer-based method introduction
    • Moira Taylor (ODU graduate student in Tamborski lab), on recent tracer-based lateral flux estimates for 6 unique marshes in Cape Cod, MA
    • Qipei Shangguan (WHOI), synthesis of high frequency alkalinity export measurements in U.S. marshes
    • Patty Oikawa (California State University), mechanistic and data driven modeling of carbon and alkalinity exports
    • Kevin Kroeger (Yale), discussion on synthesis, upscaling, additional considerations

Also see the related OCB 2018 workshop: https://www.us-ocb.org/lateral-c-flux-tidal-wetlands/

Arctic fjord fungi help lock carbon into the seafloor

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Monday, September 28th, 2026 

What determines whether freshly produced organic carbon is stored in Arctic fjord sediments or quickly returned to the atmosphere as CO₂? While bacteria have long been considered the dominant microbial players in this process, the role of marine fungi has remained largely unexplored.

Figure caption: In Arctic fjords, fungi living in the sediments promote retention of labile dissolved organic matter that exists as free amino acids. This is made possible by a high metabolic efficiency, whereby the fungi assimilate more amino acids into their biomass compared to bacteria. When bacteria dominate the amino acid assimilation, they produce more CO2 from respiration compared to fungi and less carbon is stored in the sediments. (Created with AI)

 

 

We investigated microbial carbon cycling across Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, an arctic fjord that is considered a sentinel ecosystem for arctic change.  Using quantitative stable isotope probing with ¹³C- and ¹⁵N-labeled amino acids, we tracked which microbes incorporated labile dissolved organic matter. Within the arctic fjord sediments, fungi actively assimilated this carbon with relatively high metabolic efficiency.  In other words, greater fungal activity resulted in lower carbon remineralization to CO2.  This coincided with higher fungi-to-prokaryote biomass ratios, indicating that efficient fungal metabolism promotes carbon retention in the sediments as microbial biomass.  This process was dominated by diverse fungal taxa in the aquatic hyphomycetes genus Alatospora, which was distinct from the terrestrial fungal community surrounding the fjord. Fungi have long been known to promote carbon retention in soils as biomass, and our findings show that fungal activity and metabolism also helps stabilize organic carbon before it is buried in Arctic fjord sediments.

As Arctic fjords undergo rapid warming and glacial change, understanding how microbial communities regulate carbon storage becomes increasingly important for predicting future carbon sequestration in these globally significant coastal ecosystems.

 

Authors
Juan Carlos Trejos-Espeleta (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
James A. Bradley (Aix Marseille University; University of Toulon; Centre national de la recherche scientifique; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement; Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography)
Ömer K. Coskun (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
Laura M. Wehrmann (Stony Brook University)
Gonzalo V. Gomez-Saez (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
William D. Orsi (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Aix Marseille University; Queen Mary University of London; Stony Brook University)

Citation: Trejos-Espeleta JC, Bradley JA, Coskun ÖK, Wehrmann LM, Gomez-Saez GV, Orsi WD (2026) Fungi enhance microbial carbon retention in high Arctic fjord sediment. PLoS Biol 24(6): e3003783. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003783

Taking a Ride on the C-SAW

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Monday, September 28th, 2026 

Those of us working across the land-ocean aquatic continuum (LOAC), aka the terrestrial-aquatic interface (TAI), aka estuaries and coastal waters, often note that our estuaries and coastal waters tend to get darker after large rain events. The “darkness” comes from substances that absorb and scatter light and a good portion of these materials are collectively called colored (or chromophoric) dissolved organic matter – CDOM. These observations beg the question of where the CDOM comes from and if its quality, related to its origin and its biogeochemical reactivity, varies substantially arising from storm events.

In recent work published in Limnology and Oceanography the authors looked at this question using a time series of observations from coastal North Carolina’s Neuse River Estuary, a major tributary to the Pamlico Sound, the largest lagoonal estuary in the United States. Looking at time series enabled us to translate the 2D and 3D of the LOAC into a 4D perspective and capture spatiotemporal variations that might allow us to understand different states of the estuary over time and in response to extreme weather events.

Figure caption: Conceptual model of the carbon source and weather (C-SAW) paradigm. Left panel represents dry conditions when a coastal river is not connected to its adjacent wetlands. Under wet periods (right panel), extreme rainfall floods adjacent wetlands, hydrologically connecting them to the river and leading to enhanced export of color, DOM, and nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients (N + P). Upstream river and downstream estuarine phytoplankton populations are represented as light green rods and dark green spheres, respectively.

 

We found both event-driven weather signals and basin-wide climate signals explained a surprisingly major shift in the quality of CDOM in the lower estuary and Pamlico Sound. Wet periods exhibited higher CDOM and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations – not unexpected – but overwhelmingly the sources shifted from an upland river dominance to a wetland dominance. This meant that climate change, creating wetter periods that saturate low-lying coastal landscapes, poises them to export tremendous amounts of CDOM and DOC stored in them during intense precipitation events. We conceptualized this paradigm as a “C-SAW”: carbon source and weather, which integrates elements of the Flood Pulse and Pulse-Shunt Concepts, linking them to estuarine and coastal biogeochemistry.

The C-SAW describes system state changes in the dynamic biogeochemical reactors that are estuaries. Overloading these systems with organic matter and nutrients from the landscape primes the reactor to process this organic matter back into CO2. However, DOM is quite diverse and arises from natural and anthropogenic sources, so questions remain surrounding how shifting climatic states might translate into shifting organic matter processing. On a global scale this can be significant in terms of exporting more carbon (and color) to coastal waters, impacting water quality and water clarity, as well as carbon cycling.

 

Author
Chris Osburn (North Carolina State University)

 

Citation: Osburn, C.L., Bianchi, T.S., Paerl, H.W., Hall, N.S., Hounshell, A.G., Rudolph, J.C., Bhattacharya, R. and Paerl, R.W. (2026), Carbon source and weather in coastal North Carolina. Limnol Oceanogr, 71: e70426. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.70426

 

Learn more about the related OCB scoping workshop in 2022 C-saw Time domain controls on carbon storage, release, and transformation in coastal and estuarine waters following extreme events

Sinking phytodetrital aggregates and fecal pellets produced by mesopelagic crustaceans seed deep-sea particle communities in the Southern Ocean

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Monday, September 28th, 2026 

How do processes in the sub-surface ocean (500 – 1000 m) impact particle communities that sink into the deep ocean (> 3000 m)? We highlight two observed pathways of particle flux to the deep sea from two ocean basin-wide cruises in the Southern Ocean sampled with an Underwater Vision Profiler (UVP5), which is an underwater camera that measures particle size and takes photographs of larger particles in a recent study in  GBC. The first pathway was a high-biomass event consisting of large, transparent, fluffy aggregates, likely of phytodetrital origin. The particle morphology does not change much from the surface to the deep sea (>3000 m), indicating quickly sinking particles without undergoing much transformation. However, in another region we observed a high abundance of copepods and other crustaceans in the subsurface ocean (from 500 – 1000 m), of which at least 78% of the copepods were in active posture, and presumably feeding. We observed elevated abundance of fecal pellets and degraded fecal pellets below this region, which increased with depth, particularly from 3000 – 6000 m. We posit that this mesopelagic grazing event facilitates enhanced deep carbon export by repackaging slower-sinking aggregates into denser-packed feces. We urge more study of full water column processes, rather than just surface or upper mesopelagic processes, when studying the fate of particles sinking due to the biological carbon pump. We also encourage the use of particle and plankton morphology to shed light on the ecological processes that facilitate particles reaching the deep ocean.

Figure 1: Conceptual diagram: (a) The fluffy aggregate flux pathway, where high surface chlorophyll-a waters show elevated abundance of large fluffy aggregates and grazers at the surface. Fluffy aggregates sink into the deeper ocean and down to the seafloor. (b) The zooplankton-mediated flux pathway, where high abundance of crustacean grazers in the lower mesopelagic also has elevated small particle abundance from sloppy feeding. An increasing abundance of fecal pellets and degraded fecal pellets was observed in the abyssopelagic zone. Relative and total abundance of different types of detrital particles averaged over different depth bins from the (c) fluffy aggregate flux pathway and (d) zooplankton-mediated flux pathway and different types of crustaceans in (e) and (f), respectively. (g) Highlights example images of copepods in actively feeding posture from 500 to 1000 m in the zooplankton-mediated flux pathway.

 

Author
Stephanie O’Daly, University of Washington

 

Citation: O’Daly, S. H., Hennon, G. M. M., Kelly, T. B., Kiko, R., Lekanoff, R. M., Pretty, J. L., et al. (2026). High-resolution particle imaging reveals the importance of phytodetrital aggregate flux and mesopelagic grazing for carbon storage in the Southern Ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 40, e2025GB008685. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GB008685

OCB Supports Early Career Participants in Cornell Satellite Remote Sensing Training Program 2026

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Thursday, September 24th, 2026 

Colby Dernis is an incoming M.S. student in the Jarvis Coastal Plant Ecology Lab at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. His research focuses on integrating satellite remote sensing with ecological field methods to better understand and monitor vulnerable coastal and marine ecosystems. As an undergraduate at the University of Florida, he conducted research on seagrass habitat restoration and water quality monitoring across estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of Maine.

Attending the Cornell Summer Remote Sensing Workshop was an incredible opportunity to strengthen my understanding of satellite ocean color remote sensing while building lasting connections with students and researchers across the marine science community. The course provided valuable hands-on experience with the theory, coding, and processing of satellite data used to support a wide range of oceanographic research. I especially appreciated the balance between lectures and computer exercises, which allowed us to immediately apply the concepts we learned each day. Dr. Bruce Monger and TA Izzie Fatland were incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and supportive throughout the course. I have no doubt that the skills and confidence I gained will be invaluable as I begin graduate school and continue pursuing research in aquatic remote sensing.

 

Anna Zhu

I am a PhD Candidate in the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University.  My research examines how phytoplankton are changing with ongoing environmental change in the Pacific Arctic Region using both field based and remotely sensed data. 

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity from OCB to attend Dr. Bruce Monger's Satellite Remote Sensing Course at Cornell this summer.  This course was extremely approachable and informative, introducing the data and tools needed for ocean remote sensing.  As someone's whose strengths do not lie in remote sensing and coding, I found this class to be very rewarding, and I now feel more confident in my remote sensing and Python skills.  Thank you again to Bruce and OCB! 

 

Sachithma (Sachi) Edirisinghe

I am a graduate student in Oceanography at the University of Maine, working on the ocean biological carbon pump. I have been using in-situ observational methods for my research, and will be incorporating satellite remote sensing observations as well.

The 2026 Cornell Remote Sensing Course was a great experience. The lectures in the morning covering background followed by hands-on practical sessions in the lab working with scripts and datasets on JupyterHub, contributed to my understanding of the concepts covered. I came away with the knowledge and skills to start to apply remote sensing in my own research. I really enjoyed the teaching style and atmosphere of the classroom as well.

 

Lillian Miller

Lillian recently completed her first year as a PhD student in Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Earth and Environmental Science in 2025. She works in Dr. Irina Marinov’s Climate Dynamics Lab, studying ocean ecology and biogeochemistry in climate models, with a particular focus on the role of the Southern Ocean in the global carbon cycle.

Her research combines large-scale climate model and observational datasets to investigate phytoplankton dynamics and carbon cycling, as well as evaluating model performance. She is especially interested in applying emerging tools and datasets, including remote sensing approaches, to better understand high-latitude ocean ecosystems and their response to climate change.

Beyond research, Lillian is actively involved in science policy, communication, and education initiatives. She serves as a Local Science Partner with the American Geophysical Union and has contributed to science policy efforts through the Penn Science Policy and Diplomacy Group. She is passionate about connecting scientific research with policy and public engagement to support evidence-based environmental solutions.

Participating in Cornell’s Satellite Remote Sensing workshop was an incredible opportunity and gave me valuable hands-on experience working with data from a variety of satellite sensors, including PACE, MODIS, and SeaWiFS. I learned how to process satellite data using SeaDAS to generate different ocean products, such as chlorophyll concentrations and phytoplankton size classes, while also gaining a better understanding of the algorithms and methods behind these datasets. I am excited to take this new knowledge into my research to better understand changing ecology in regions of the Southern Ocean.

Beyond providing valuable technical skills and knowledge, Bruce was an incredible mentor who was always willing to help troubleshoot challenges and fostered a welcoming and collaborative environment throughout the course. This made it easy to connect with others, build professional relationships, and form friendships that I hope to maintain throughout my career.

I am very grateful to OCB for funding this opportunity and making this experience possible!

 

Israt Jahan Mili is a Ph.D. candidate at the School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, option area: Marine and Atmospheric System Modeling and Analysis. She is also affiliated as a teaching faculty member in the Department of Oceanography and Hydrography at Bangladesh Maritime University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and is currently on study leave to pursue her doctoral research at UMassD, which she began in September 2022.

Her doctoral research focuses on developing a hyperspectral phytoplankton absorption-based, wavelength-resolved primary production algorithm for the northern Gulf of Mexico using in situ light profiles, photosynthesis–irradiance measurements, and filterpad absorption data. This algorithm is applied to hyperspectral ocean color satellite observations, such as PACE-OCI data, and will also be applicable to upcoming hyperspectral satellite observations, such as GLIMR.

The Cornell Satellite Remote Sensing Workshop was an excellent fit for my research goals, as it provided hands-on experience in satellite data retrieval, subsetting, processing, visualization, interpretation, and particularly processing satellite ocean color data from Level-1 to Level-2 and Level-3 using NASA SeaDAS prewritten python scripts.

During the workshop, I worked with a wide range of satellite products, including PACE-OCI, MODIS, VIIRS, OLCI, SeaWiFS, GHRSST SST, QuikSCAT vector winds, SSMI, ASCAT, WindSat, and altimetry data. Learning alongside peers from diverse research backgrounds was another valuable part of the program, as it helped me expand my professional network and feel more connected to the broader satellite remote sensing and ocean color scientific community. I greatly appreciate Dr. Bruce Monger’s tireless guidance and support throughout the workshop, which helped build my confidence in processing satellite data independently. Since much of our primary production algorithm development has been carried out in MATLAB, the workshop also helped me become more comfortable using Python scripts to improve reproducibility and accessibility for future users. I highly recommend this workshop to anyone seeking hands-on experience with satellite data processing and its application in oceanographic research.

 

SOLAS 3.0 Science Plan and Task Group Proposals

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Friday, September 18th, 2026 

Call for SOLAS 3.0 Task Group Proposals Now Open
SOLAS is pleased to announce a new Call for SOLAS 3.0 Task Group Proposals.

As part of the implementation of the SOLAS 3.0 Science Plan, Task Groups provide a small, focused, and time-limited mechanism for the SOLAS community to address specific scientific needs, gaps, or opportunities and develop tangible outcomes.

Up to USD 30,000 is available for this call, with individual Task Groups eligible for up to USD 10,000 for activities over a period of up to two years. Co-funding and in-kind contributions are welcome.

Task Groups may support focused activities such as scientific or community workshops, synthesis and roadmap development, best-practice activities, pilot activities, or other initiatives that address a clearly identified SOLAS 3.0 need. They may also support focused activities arising from existing SCOR Working Groups or help incubate ideas for future larger initiatives.

Proposals should focus on a specific, achievable task with clear and tangible outcomes.

For full information on the Task Group scope, eligibility, proposal requirements, funding, and application process, please see the SOLAS 3.0 Task Group Instructions.

Proposal deadline: 13 November 2026

Fill in the proposal template and submit it via email to the SOLAS IPO (solas@xmu.edu.cn)

We encourage the SOLAS community to take this opportunity to develop focused and innovative activities that can contribute to the implementation of SOLAS 3.0.

Official Launch of the SOLAS 3.0 Science Plan (2026–2035)

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Thursday, September 17th, 2026 

Entering its third decade, SOLAS stands at the intersection of science and society. With its expertise in air–sea processes, SOLAS is in an exceptional position to integrate the oceanographic and atmospheric communities and advise on essential mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Built from strong community input and assembled by over 40 co-authors, the plan is designed to inspire, organise, and provide the community with leverage for ideas that advance SOLAS-related science. The plan is structured around three objectives:

Discovery Science
To achieve a quantitative understanding of the key biogeochemical-physical interactions and feedbacks between the ocean and atmosphere and to establish how this coupled system affects and is affected by Earth’s rapidly changing global climate.

Science Towards Solutions
To leverage expertise and new scientific discoveries relating to air-sea interactions in efforts to inform activities aimed at mitigating or adapting to climate and environmental change and thus improve the assessment of potential outcomes of such efforts on global, regional, and local environmental scales.

Scientific Community and Skill Development
To educate, engage, and connect the next generation of ocean-atmosphere researchers, advocate for equitable access to data and tools, and promote the integration and global coordination of science across the air-sea interface.

SOLAS 3.0: 2026–2035 Science Plan and Organisation—a bold new framework charting the next decade of international research at the ocean–atmosphere interface.

Read the rest of the announcement and get the science plan

Ocean scientist dialogs on NSF Ocean Observing DCL starting next week

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Thursday, September 10th, 2026 

OCB to co-host community dialogs on ocean observing to encourage many community response submissions

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is requesting perspectives on what ocean observation capabilities it should provide. The agency recently issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) seeking public input on priorities, strategies, and technologies for future ocean observing systems that effectively support scientific needs and align with NSF’s mission and strategic plan. NSF seeks responses, from both U.S. and international stakeholders, to a suite of questions addressing topics including observational gaps, fixed and mobile assets, coordination among (national and/or international) programs, and which components of NSF’s current ocean observing portfolio should be maintained and/or updated. Group responses are welcome, however, informed individual responses are strongly encouraged. Individuals do not need to respond to ALL questions. The deadline for responses to the DCL is September 30, 2026.

It is important to stress that this request for input spans the entire scope of ocean science and ocean observing systems. To support this multidisciplinary community and highlight integrated components across different sectors, the OOIFB is collaborating with ocean scientists and entities representing a broad disciplinary swath of the oceanographic community to organize several virtual “ocean observing exchanges.” The goals of these Zoom-based dialogues are to discuss the NSF DCL, review the prompts, and co-develop ideas/priorities to encourage and inform individual and organization-level responses. An outpouring of community input, particularly in the form of individual responses that address specific priorities, is vital to informing and encouraging sustained NSF investment in ocean observing resources.

A regularly updated full schedule of virtual exchanges, associated facilitators, and registration links is available here. There will also be a Community Forum on the Future of Ocean Observing in early December prior to the 2026 AGU Conference in San Francisco, CA. No matter the topic, be sure to find and attend a session that suits your schedule. Registration is required to participate in an ocean exchange. Each exchange will function as a collaborative working session lasting ~60 minutes (with an option to extend each session if necessary). The exchange will begin with a quick overview of the DCL, existing NSF-funded systems that are part of the DCL, as well as a review of NSF priorities (as stated in the agency’s 2026-2030 Strategic Plan). Individuals may find the sessions most helpful if they are able to attend sessions aligned with their expertise and/or attend a general session; however, all members of the ocean observing community, spanning all types of expertise, career stage, and position, are welcome at all sessions. Interested individuals can also attend more than one session. Session summaries will be posted online for additional reference.

It’s time to engage: attend an event and submit your personal comment on the future of Ocean Obs

Via US CLIVAR: A List of Observing Efforts (we will maintain an updated list here)

Ocean observations mentioned in the letter:

NSF-supported observational programs not mentioned in the letter include:

LTERs:

Excluded as per the letter

  • US Academic Research Fleet
  • sub-seafloor drilling capabilities
  • remote sensing measurements
  • science questions best answered through term-limited research grants

Not sure where to start? Join an OCB co-hosted or other community virtual exchange:

Monday, September 14, 2026; 12pm ET/9am PT
Facilitators: Hilary Palevsky (Boston College) and Heather Benway (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (OCB) Project Office)
Topical focus: Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry

Thursday, September 17, 2026; 12:30pm ET/9:30am PT
Facilitator: Heather Benway (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (OCB) Project Office)
Topical focus: Sustained infrastructure for observing ocean biology and biogeochemistry, air-sea interactions

Date/Time: Monday, September 21, 2026; 1pm ET/10am PT
Facilitator(s): Amy Maas (Arizona State University) and James Potemra (University of Hawaii)
Topical focus: Time-series observations/data

Date/Time: Tuesday September 22, 2026; 12pm ET/9am PT
Facilitator(s): Sage Lichtenwalner (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey), Janice McDonnell (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey), and Anna.Pfeiffer-Herbert (Stockton University)
Topical focus: Education, Workforce Development
Registration

Thursday, September 24, 2026; 4pm ET/1pm PT
Facilitator(s): Jan Newton and Rosie Gradoville
Topical focus: NSF OOI Endurance Array and ocean observing in the Pacific Northwest
Registration

Full information and more events: NSF DCL and ocean observing exchanges and Resource List

2026 Call for OCB Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) nominations 

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Wednesday, September 9th, 2026 

OCB is seeking nominations for new Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) members. The term begins January 1, 2027. The following SSC members are scheduled to rotate off at the end of 2026:

  • Kristen Krumhardt (NCAR) – ocean ecosystem modeling, Southern Ocean ecosystem dynamics
  • Kanchan Maiti (Louisiana State Univ.) – biogeochemical cycling along aquatic continuum, deep ocean and benthic fluxes, geochemical tracers, autonomous observation platforms
  • Melissa Meléndez (Univ. Hawai’i) – marine carbonate chemistry, ocean acidification, net ecosystem metabolism, marine carbon dioxide removal
  • Rachel Stanley (Wellesley College) –  inorganic chemistry, mass spectrometry, gas tracers, air-sea gas exchange

We are especially interested in filling the following expertise gaps:

  • Marine inorganic chemistry, including marine carbonate cycle and calcification
  • Air-sea gas exchange
  • Coastal and estuarine biogeochemistry 

Please consider casting a wide net in submitting nominations. We are seeking to entrain a broad range of voices and ideas in OCB! Nominees can be from any US-based institution (including Univ. Puerto Rico, Univ. Virgin Islands or in other US territories). Please submit nomination(s) (self-nominations are welcome) HERE by November 23. All nominees’ 2-page abbreviated CVs should be sent to hbenway@whoi.edu.

Nominees are primarily evaluated based on their science expertise (relative to emerging expertise gaps) and their leadership potential. We encourage re-nomination if a prior nomination round was not successful. Note that many SSC members are nominated multiple times before becoming members, since we must navigate evolving expertise gaps and various forms of balance on the committee, including geographic location and career stage. OCB SSC members serve a 3-year term. To learn more about what the OCB SSC is/does, please visit the SSC page of the OCB website and feel free to reach out to current SSC members about time commitment and their experiences as SSC members.

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Funding for the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Project Office is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The OCB Project Office is housed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.