Archive for News

NEW Report: Pathways Connecting Climate Changes to the Deep Ocean

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Thursday, August 28th, 2025 

Now published – workshop report from the Pathways Connecting Climate Changes to the Deep Ocean: Tracing physical, biogeochemical, and ecological signals from the surface to the deep sea
A joint OCB-US CLIVAR scoping workshop

This workshop will brought together observational oceanographers and modelers across physical, biogeochemical, and ecological communities to assess our understanding of pathways connecting the surface to the seafloor and to develop recommendations for improved detection and attribution of change in the global deep ocean system.

Workshop goals:

  1. Provide an updated comprehensive assessment of the deep ocean’s state and changes across disciplines, of key quantities in which these changes are expressed, and of pathways and timescales connecting the surface to the seafloor.
  2. Review existing observation and modeling tools and their adequacy for constraining, understanding, and attributing changes in the deep ocean system. Identify critical knowledge and observational data gaps and model deficiencies.
  3. Develop a collective set of recommendations for improved detection and attribution of change in the global deep ocean system, with a focus on better serving and supporting deep ocean science across disciplines.
  4. Build an interdisciplinary network of ocean modelers and observers across disciplines. Our aim is to open communication channels and facilitate collaborative exchange of data, knowledge, and tools across communities.

Scientific Organizing Committee
Xinfeng Liang (Univ. Delaware), Monique Messié (MBARI), Leslie Smith (Your Ocean Consulting LLC, DOOS), Isabela Le Bras (WHOI), Patrick Heimbach (Univ. Texas, Austin), Helen Pillar (Univ. Texas, Austin), Zachary Erickson (NOAA/PMEL), Charlie Stock (NOAA/GFDL)

Get the report

Workshop website

 

2026 OCB Activity Proposal Solicitation – open until Oct 24

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Wednesday, August 20th, 2025 

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program is soliciting proposals for OCB activities that will take place or begin during the 2026 calendar year. We seek proposals for OCB-relevant workshops and activities as follows:

  • Workshops and training activities – These activities bring together practitioners across disciplines to build community and/or capacity on OCB-relevant topics (see scientific scope below). A training activity is typically limited to 30-40 participants, and a topical workshop is typically limited to 50-60 participants. A hybrid format is strongly encouraged to broaden input and impact. We also welcome proposals for fully virtual workshops and training activities. The participant selection process for training activities should use a pre-determined evaluative rubric. Budgets for these activities will be capped at $70,000.
  • Small group activities – These activities have a specific focus and set of outcomes. They are typically limited to ~8-16 participants and 1-2 years in duration. The majority of participant interaction must take place virtually. Work is to be completed both synchronously and asynchronously via Zoom and collaborative tools (e.g., Google Suite). A small amount of funding (add-on hotel night, food and beverage) can be provided to accommodate a side meeting in conjunction with other workshops (OCB, AGU, OSM, etc.), and publication costs. If a small group activity is a follow-on or direct outgrowth of a previous OCB activity, this connection should be explicitly noted, and PIs must address how this activity will further advance progress. Budgets for these activities will be capped at $15,000.
  • Regional hubs – This is a relatively new OCB activity model (based on the OCB-supported regional mCDR nodes) that aims to foster community building at the regional scale on OCB-relevant topics, including practitioners across sectors, disciplines, and career stages. A small amount of funding is provided to support one large or a series of smaller gatherings, as well as funding to support outcomes (e.g., publications, outreach materials, etc.). There is no travel/lodging support available for these activities, as all participants should be local or within driving distance of a regional hub. Budgets for these activities will be capped at $10,000.

Read the full solicitation

METS RCN workshop recordings

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Tuesday, August 19th, 2025 

Watch recordings from the METS RCN workshop held in April on the OCB YouTube Channel.

International Workshop: FAIR Data Practices for Ship-based Marine Ecological Time Series
April 22-25, 2025 (ASU/BIOS, Bermuda)

Workshop report: https://www.us-ocb.org/fair-data-practices-for-marine-ecological-time-series/

More on METS RCN Workshop: https://www2.whoi.edu/site/mets-rcn/projects/fair-ship-based-ocean-time-series-international-workshop/

Submit & view OCB-relevant sessions for 2026 Ocean Sciences Meeting

Posted by hbenway 
· Friday, July 11th, 2025 

OSM2026 Abstract submissions are open until August 20

View OSM science program

https://www.agu.org/ocean-sciences-meeting/present#abstract-submission

Share your OCB-relevent special session via this OCB form.

Are you looking to submit an abstract to present? View the session compilation with descriptions, deadlines and more information here: https://tinyurl.com/OCB-related-sessions

FAIR Data Practices for Marine Ecological Time Series

Posted by hbenway 
· Sunday, June 1st, 2025 

International Workshop: FAIR Data Practices for Ship-based Marine Ecological Time Series 

April 22-25, 2025 (ASU/BIOS, Bermuda)

Photo credits: O. Arsenault (above) and B. Siddle (ASU/BIOS) (feature photo)

Sustained ocean time series measurements are fundamental to distinguish between natural and human-induced variability in ecosystems and processes required to advance ecological forecasting. Since 2007, OCB has led and contributed to numerous efforts and activities in support of building a global network of ocean time series with the aims of elevating the visibility and utility of these observing assets for understanding climate-ecosystem links and improving coordination, communication, and scientific synthesis products across ocean time series programs1.

A lack of Marine Ecological Time Series (METS) data and metadata reporting standards, combined with numerous disconnected data management efforts, makes it exceedingly difficult for prospective time series data users to find and gain access to these valuable and unique datasets. For many of the biogeochemical and biological parameters that are unique to ship-based METS, there is an urgent need to develop consensus on community-adopted data and metadata reporting standards that will make these data more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR)2. An NSF EarthCube-funded METS Research Coordination Network was established in 2021, with leadership from OCB, Biological & Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO), and the Hawai’i Ocean Time-series (HOT) program. The goals of this RCN were to: Develop and build consensus around FAIR data solutions for ship-based ocean time series; broaden METS data users and applications; and build capacity for METS data analysis, statistics, and data-model integration. Small group meetings over the past three years, including an in-person meeting in Boston in April 2023 have enabled members of the time series and data science communities to develop initial use cases for biogeochemical and biological variables commonly measured by METS. Parallel to this effort, a METS RCN leadership team member led the development of a pilot biogeochemical ocean time series data product3 with funding from EuroSea. As its final community activity, the METS RCN hosted an invitational FAIR Data Workshop that convened 60 (45 in person, 15 virtual) time series program representatives, informatics and data management experts, and data repository managers. The goals of the workshop were to:

  • Build capacity & provide tools to guide FAIR implementation for marine ecological time series
  • Share metadata templates for commonly measured ecological and biogeochemical parameters
  • Share & discuss tools/resources for data visualization, synthesis & analysis, citation (DOI), decision support
  • Update time series sampling & analytical methods recommendations
  • Build community - share science outcomes, challenges & opportunities

The agenda included a mix of plenary and poster sessions, breakout discussions, and small group activities to share FAIR tools and approaches for METS data sets, including draft metadata reporting templates for commonly measured ecological variables and a FAIR data primer to help METS PIs learn more about their (and their repositories’) roles in implementing FAIR data practices. Ultimately, we want these data sets to be as discoverable as possible to increase and broaden their use (which keeps them supported!).

In addition to documenting the outcomes of the RCN and workshop in a report, we aim to finalize and distribute the draft metadata templates and FAIR data primer. Pending continued community interest and engagement, we aim to involve additional globally distributed METS programs in the implementation of FAIR data protocols, METS data products, and community building activities, including proposing a science session at the upcoming 2026 Ocean Sciences Meeting and increasing time series dataset discoverability via the UN Decade-endorsed Ocean InfoHub. Future products and activities will be shared via OCB communication channels.

Relevant Resources

1. Benway, H. M., L. Lorenzoni, A. E. White, B. Fiedler, N. M. Levine, D. P. Nicholson, M. D. DeGrandpre, H. M. Sosik, M. J. Church, T. D. O’Brien, M. Leinen, R. A. Weller, D. M. Karl, S. A. Henson, R. M. Letelier (2019).Ocean time series observations of changing marine ecosystems: An era of integration, synthesis, and societal applications. Frontiers in Marine Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00393.

2. Benway, H., J. Buck, L. Fujieki, D. Kinkade, L. Lorenzoni, M. Schildhauer, A. Shepherd, A. White (2020). NSF EarthCube Workshop for Shipboard Ocean Time Series Data Meeting Report. 59 pp. DOI 10.1575/1912/25480.

3. Lange, N., Fiedler, B., Álvarez, M., Benoit-Cattin, A., Benway, H., Buttigieg, P. L., Coppola, L., Currie, K., Flecha, S., Gerlach, D. S., Honda, M., Huertas, I. E., Lauvset, S. K., Muller-Karger, F., Körtzinger, A., O'Brien, K. M., Ólafsdóttir, S. R., Pacheco, F. C., Rueda-Roa, D., Skjelvan, I., Wakita, M., White, A., and Tanhua, T.: Synthesis Product for Ocean Time Series (SPOTS) – a ship-based biogeochemical pilot, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1901–1931, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1901-2024, 2024.

OCB2025 schedule – science, connection, community

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 

Thank you for being a part of OCB2025 online Summer Science Workshop for a week of science, connection, and community - June 2-6

OCB2025 plenary sessions

Constraining the dark ocean carbon cycle: Implications for ocean carbon budgets? (Co-chairs: Anne Dekas, Anela Choy, Jeff Bowman, Randie Bundy)

Rivers to coasts: Biogeochemical linkages and environmental resilience (joint with North American Carbon Program) (Co-chairs: Fei Da, Kanchan Maiti, Shaily Rahman, Libby Larson, David Butman)

Rapidly changing systems (Co-chairs: Kristen Krumhardt, Rachel Stanley, Melissa Melendez)

Bridging scales in the ocean carbon cycle (Co-chairs: Zachary Erickson, Tim DeVries, Roo Nicholson, Daniel Whitt, Dreux Chappell

Learn more and see the schedule

PAUSE on all bulk travel requests

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Friday, May 2nd, 2025 

Until further notice, OCB will not be able to consider bulk travel support requests.

We will post an announcement if this changes.

OCB2025 online only

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Monday, April 21st, 2025 

The OCB2025 Summer Science Workshop will take place VIRTUALLY June 2 - 6, 2025.

OCB2025 Plenary Sessions

Constraining the dark ocean carbon cycle: Implications for ocean carbon budgets? (Co-chairs: Anne Dekas, Anela Choy, Jeff Bowman, Randie Bundy)

Rivers to coasts: Biogeochemical linkages and environmental resilience (joint with North American Carbon Program) (Co-chairs: Fei Da, Kanchan Maiti, Shaily Rahman, Libby Larson, David Butman)

Rapidly changing systems (Co-chairs: Kristen Krumhardt, Rachel Stanley, Melissa Melendez)

Bridging scales in the ocean carbon cycle (Co-chairs: Zachary Erickson, Tim DeVries, Roo Nicholson, Daniel Whitt, Dreux Chappell)

Learn more and register

Leaky Deltas workshop summary

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Thursday, April 10th, 2025 

The Leaky Deltas OCB workshop was held 17-20 March 2025 at Louisiana State University, in Baton Rouge, USA, which is situated within the Mississippi River delta. We brought together 57 members of the research community who study river deltas in the context of the global carbon cycle. The goal of the workshop was to create a community consensus on the state of delta carbon cycle science, identify critical knowledge gaps, and brainstorm opportunities and priorities for future research efforts. Participants ranged in career stage from graduate student to senior scientist, and from disciplines ranging from biogeochemistry to geomorphology, river scientists to oceanographers; and scientists using a variety of methodological approaches.

The workshop included five oral sessions, four breakout sessions, numerous opportunities for discussion over meals and coffee breaks, a trip to the LSU Center for River Studies, and a workshop dinner. The breakout sessions were formatted to encourage discussion among interdisciplinary groups of scientists at different career stages. During breakout session 1, participants were randomly assigned to groups that spanned career stages and expertise. This session was aimed at identifying grand challenges in delta carbon cycle science. Breakout session 2 had a disciplinary focus, where we broke out into groups of biogeochemistry, geomorphology, modeling, and ecosystems. Breakout session 3 was broken out into groups based on physical domains of the delta: river, wetlands, subaqueous delta, shelf, and continental slope. A highlight of day three was a field trip to the LSU Center for River Studies, where workshop participants were guided on a tour of the historical changes of the Mississippi River Delta, as well as the large-scale physical model of the delta. On the fourth and final day of the workshop, we had short break-out sessions and reconvened as a whole to synthesize ideas and circle back to the workshop objectives.

In summary, the workshop resulted in a consensus on the key knowledge gaps and research grand challenges, which included constraining the composition of organic matter, the timescales of geomorphic processes, biogeochemical reaction rates, impacts of human perturbations and extreme events, and challenges in monitoring deltaic processes. Workshop participants now have the task of writing a position paper that summarizes these grand research challenges, identifies the data needed to address these challenges, and recommends a framework and directions for future research. One outcome of the workshop included the structure and organization for this paper. The early career workshop participants will also lead an early-career-led perspective paper that discusses ideas for integrating new technologies and methodologies to address these grand challenges and identifies future challenges for the delta science community.

Learn more about this workshop

New: Connecting Observations to Models

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Thursday, April 10th, 2025 

Ombres, E., H. Benway, K. Bisson, A. Larkin, L. Perotti, L. Wright-Fairbanks (eds.) (2024). Connecting Observations to Models: Biogeochemical Observing and Modeling Workshop, 2024 Summary Report and Suggested Steps Forward. Published Date: 2024 Series: NOAA technical memorandum OAR-OAP ; 6, DOI: https://doi.org/10.25923/wpdj-ja69

Next Page »

Filter by Keyword

abundance acidification additionality advection africa air-sea air-sea interactions algae alkalinity allometry ammonium AMO AMOC anoxic Antarctic Antarctica anthro impacts anthropogenic carbon anthropogenic impacts appendicularia aquaculture aquatic continuum aragonite saturation arctic Argo argon arsenic artificial seawater AT Atlantic atmospheric CO2 atmospheric nitrogen deposition authigenic carbonates autonomous platforms AUVs bacteria bathypelagic BATS BCG Argo benthic bgc argo bio-go-ship bio-optical bioavailability biogeochemical cycles biogeochemical models biogeochemistry Biological Essential Ocean Variables biological pump biophysics bloom blue carbon bottom water boundary layer buffer capacity C14 CaCO3 calcification calcite carbon carbon-climate feedback carbon-sulfur coupling carbonate carbonate system carbon budget carbon cycle carbon dioxide carbon export carbon fluxes carbon sequestration carbon storage Caribbean CCA CCS changing marine chemistry changing marine ecosystems changing marine environments changing ocean chemistry chemical oceanographic data chemical speciation chemoautotroph chesapeake bay chl a chlorophyll circulation clouds CO2 CO3 coastal and estuarine coastal darkening coastal ocean cobalt Coccolithophores commercial community composition competition conservation cooling effect copepod copepods coral reefs CTD currents cyclone daily cycles data data access data assimilation database data management data product Data standards DCM dead zone decadal trends decomposers decomposition deep convection deep ocean deep sea coral denitrification deoxygenation depth diatoms DIC diel migration diffusion dimethylsulfide dinoflagellate dinoflagellates discrete measurements distribution DOC DOM domoic acid DOP dust DVM ecology economics ecosystem management ecosystems eddy Education EEZ Ekman transport emissions ENSO enzyme equatorial current equatorial regions ESM estuarine and coastal carbon fluxes estuary euphotic zone eutrophication evolution export export fluxes export production extreme events faecal pellets fecal pellets filter feeders filtration rates fire fish Fish carbon fisheries fishing floats fluid dynamics fluorescence food webs forage fish forams freshening freshwater frontal zone functional role future oceans gelatinous zooplankton geochemistry geoengineering geologic time GEOTRACES glaciers gliders global carbon budget global ocean global ocean models global warming go-ship grazing greenhouse gas greenhouse gases Greenland ground truthing groundwater Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Gulf Stream gyre harmful algal bloom high latitude human food human impact human well-being hurricane hydrogen hydrothermal hypoxia ice age iceberg ice cores ice cover industrial onset inland waters in situ inverse circulation ions iron iron fertilization iron limitation isotopes jellies katabatic winds kelvin waves krill kuroshio lab vs field land-ocean continuum larvaceans lateral transport LGM lidar ligands light light attenuation lipids low nutrient machine learning mangroves marine carbon cycle marine heatwave marine particles marine snowfall marshes mCDR mechanisms Mediterranean meltwater mesopelagic mesoscale mesoscale processes metagenome metals methane methods microbes microlayer microorganisms microplankton microscale microzooplankton midwater migration minerals mitigation mixed layer mixed layers mixing mixotrophs mixotrophy model modeling model validation mode water molecular diffusion MPT MRV multi-decade N2 n2o NAAMES NCP nearshore net community production net primary productivity new ocean state new technology Niskin bottle nitrate nitrogen nitrogen cycle nitrogen fixation nitrous oxide north atlantic north pacific North Sea NPP nuclear war nutricline nutrient budget nutrient cycles nutrient cycling nutrient limitation nutrients OA observations ocean-atmosphere ocean acidification ocean acidification data ocean alkalinity enhancement ocean carbon storage and uptake ocean carbon uptake and storage ocean color ocean modeling ocean observatories ocean warming ODZ oligotrophic omics OMZ open ocean optics organic particles oscillation outwelling overturning circulation oxygen pacific paleoceanography PAR parameter optimization parasite particle flux particles partnerships pCO2 PDO peat pelagic PETM pH phenology phosphate phosphorus photosynthesis physical processes physiology phytoplankton PIC piezophilic piezotolerant plankton POC polar polar regions policy pollutants precipitation predation predator-prey predators prediction pressure primary productivity Prochlorococcus productivity prokaryotes proteins pteropods pycnocline radioisotopes remineralization remote sensing repeat hydrography residence time resource management respiration resuspension rivers rocky shore Rossby waves Ross Sea ROV salinity salt marsh satellite scale seafloor seagrass sea ice sea level rise seasonal seasonality seasonal patterns seasonal trends sea spray seawater collection seaweed secchi sediments sensors sequestration shelf ocean shelf system shells ship-based observations shorelines siderophore silica silicate silicon cycle sinking sinking particles size SOCCOM soil carbon southern ocean south pacific spatial covariations speciation SST state estimation stoichiometry subduction submesoscale subpolar subtropical sulfate surf surface surface ocean Synechococcus technology teleconnections temperate temperature temporal covariations thermocline thermodynamics thermohaline thorium tidal time-series time of emergence titration top predators total alkalinity trace elements trace metals trait-based transfer efficiency transient features trawling Tris trophic transfer tropical turbulence twilight zone upper ocean upper water column upwelling US CLIVAR validation velocity gradient ventilation vertical flux vertical migration vertical transport warming water clarity water mass water quality waves weathering western boundary currents wetlands winter mixing zooplankton

Copyright © 2025 - OCB Project Office, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Rd, MS #25, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA Phone: 508-289-2838  •  Fax: 508-457-2193  •  Email: ocb_news@us-ocb.org

link to nsflink to noaalink to WHOI

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.