OCB Activity Proposal Solicitations :: Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry

2022 OCB Activity Solicitation

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program is soliciting proposals for OCB activities that will take place or begin during the 2022 calendar year. Due to ongoing COVID-related uncertainties, in-person activities should include contingency plans in case delays or cancellations are necessary. We seek proposals for OCB-relevant workshops and activities as follows:

Scoping workshops (~50-70 people) that bring together an appropriate body of expertise to foster discussions and build momentum within a specific OCB research area (previous OCB scoping workshops)
Working groups (~8-12 members) to address targeted science goals/questions and develop products that benefit and engage the broader OCB community
Synthesis activities to bring together existing data sets, model outputs, etc. to support and inform future research efforts
Intercomparison activities to assess and build consensus on best practices (methodological, modeling, data analysis, etc.) for advancing OCB-relevant research
Training activities (~30-50 participants plus instructors as needed) to build capacity in different areas of OCB research

To get familiar with OCB’s current slate of activities, PIs are strongly encouraged to view the OCB website before preparing and submitting a proposal. If you have questions about the relevance, timeliness, appropriate format, etc. of a proposed activity, please contact the OCB Project Office for guidance, especially PIs who are less familiar with and/or haven’t been involved with OCB and its activities in the past.

We strongly encourage PIs to read OCB’s Code of Conduct and Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI) resources. Since community engagement and JEDI are key criteria in the proposal evaluation process, please be mindful and explicit about how you will foster inclusivity in your proposed activity.

SCIENTIFIC SCOPE

OCB’s overarching goal is to explore the ocean’s role in the global carbon cycle and the response of marine ecosystems to environmental changes of the past (paleo), present, and future (prediction).

Proposed activities should address one or more of the following OCB-relevant topics:

Ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) – particularly activities that facilitate a cross-disciplinary dialog and forward progress on the following: 1) planning experimental approaches, geographic locations, and associated interactions among physical, biogeochemical, and biological processes that impact CO₂drawdown (e.g., Bach et al., 2021); 2) developing high-resolution (experimental scale) data assimilative modeling capabilities that enable testing of ocean CDR approaches; and 3) developing tools and techniques that quantify total net CO₂ removal due to an ocean-based CDR technique, thus accounting for the spatial and temporal background dynamics and the biogeochemical opportunity costs (i.e. lost biogeochemical function as a result of doing ocean-based CDR). Resources to guide proposal development include:

Carbon cycling and associated biogeochemical fluxes and exchanges along the aquatic continuum (from rivers to the coastal ocean) associated with extreme events such as storms, hurricanes, and wildfires - particularly activities that facilitate a cross-disciplinary dialog and forward progress on the following: 1) Identifying key observational gaps (spatial and temporal) and planning coordinated observational networks and approaches to monitor fluxes and ecosystem responses to extreme events; 2) Translating observations into a dynamic modeling framework to better quantify changes in fluxes and associated ecosystem thresholds and tipping points. Resources to guide proposal development include:

Recorded presentation from an extreme events breakout session at the North American Carbon Program Open Science Meeting)
Webinars focused on extreme events (wildfires, hurricanes)

OCB research priorities listed on OCB website:

Climate- and human-driven changes in ocean chemistry (e.g., acidification, deoxygenation, nutrient loading, etc.) and associated impacts on marine ecosystems
Ocean carbon uptake and storage, including processes from the air-sea interface to the deep ocean
Marine organism-mediated carbon cycling and export via the biological pump
Benthic carbon cycle feedbacks, from shallow to deep-sea marine habitats
Carbon cycling and associated biogeochemical fluxes and exchanges along the aquatic continuum, from rivers to the coastal ocean
Marine organism response to environmental change, including molecular, physiological, ecological, and evolutionary processes

OCB especially encourages activities that:

Address community guideposts such as the IPCC AR6 WG1 report Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, Integrated Ocean Carbon Research report, OceanObs19 Community White papers, NSF’s Ten Big Ideas, the 2018 Decadal Strategy for Earth Observations from Space, the Second State of the Carbon Cycle (SOCCR-2) Report
Complement ongoing OCB-relevant community-based science programs and initiatives
Strengthen collaborations with partner program communities such as SOLAS, IMBeR, US CLIVAR, NACP, IOCCP, and GEOTRACES

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES & REQUIREMENTS

Proposals should be a maximum of 5 pages in length and must explicitly address:

How the workshop supports and advances OCB research and observational priorities
How participants for the proposed activity will be recruited and associated efforts to enhance representation of underrepresented groups
Activity products and outcomes that will benefit the broader OCB community

All proposals should include the rationale for and detailed description of the activity, a budget, and a budget justification. No salary support may be included in the budget. Budget should explicitly note and account for the anticipated number of participants in the proposed activity. International participation and collaboration are encouraged, but please note that due to U.S. federal funding sources, the OCB Project Office must prioritize support for U.S.-based activities and participants. Please carefully consider and provide reasonable cost estimates for travel, catering/per diem, housing, meeting room and A/V costs, transportation, publications, etc. A good first estimate that takes all of these costs into account is ~$1,000 per person. If you are receiving support from another program or organization, please include a letter of support indicating their commitment and note the details in the budget.

Scoping Workshops and Training Activities

The target budget for scoping workshops and training activities is $60,000-70,000. These proposals should include preliminary logistical information concerning time frame and venue, as well as anticipated outcomes (reports, special journal volumes, etc.) and their benefits to the broader OCB community. View previously funded OCB scoping workshop proposals: US BioGeoSCAPES Planning Workshop (2020), Daily to decadal ecological forecasting along North American coastlines (2020, joint proposal with US CLIVAR), Air-Sea Scoping Workshop (2019), Oceanic Methane and Nitrous Oxide: The present situation and future scenarios (2018)

Other Activities

Other proposed activities should be 2-3 years in duration, with a total target budget of $20,000-$30,000 to cover travel, analytical costs, shipping and publication costs, etc. We will consider larger budget requests if adequately justified. If the activity is a follow-on from a previous OCB activity, this connection should be explicitly made and PIs should address how this activity will serve the OCB community and further advance the scientific ideas put forth in the initial activity. Proposals should also include a draft timeline for the activity with target dates for products and outcomes, as well as anticipated OCB Project Office scientific and/or logistical support needs. View previously funded OCB small group activity proposals: Phytoplankton Taxonomy Working Group (2017-2020), Nitrogen Fixation Working Group (2017-2019), Fish Carbon Flux Working Group (2018-2020), Ocean Carbonate System Intercomparison Forum (2019-present), Mixotrophs and Mixotrophy Working Group (2020-present).

Please submit workshop proposals electronically to the OCB Project Office (hbenway@whoi.edu) by October 22, 2021 at midnight (EST) for consideration by the OCB Scientific Steering Committee (SSC). The OCB SSC will discuss and rank all proposals based on the following criteria: 1) Scientific merit (40%); 2) relevance to OCB (20%); 3) timeliness and potential community impact (20%); and 4) community engagement strategy and effort(s) to promote JEDI (20%). Decisions will be announced by the end of the 2021 calendar year.