OCB Activity Proposal Solicitations

2023 OCB Activity Proposal Solicitation

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program is soliciting proposals for OCB activities that will take place or begin during the 2023 calendar year. Due to ongoing pandemic-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 (e.g., small “process teams” to improve OCB process understanding and parameterization in earth system models)
• 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 and previous 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. Since community engagement and diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) are key criteria in the proposal evaluation process, please be mindful and explicit about how you will foster inclusivity in your proposed activity.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
The OCB Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) will discuss and rank all proposals based on the following criteria:

• Scientific merit (40%)
• Community engagement and effort(s) to promote DEIJ in the proposed activity (20%)
• Relevance to OCB (20%)
• Timeliness and broader implications of proposed activity for human communities, including environmental justice considerations (20%)

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, historical), present, and future (prediction). In addition, proposed activities should address one or more of the following OCB-relevant topics:

• Climate- and human-driven changes in ocean biogeochemistry (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
• Benthic-pelagic coupling of biogeochemical cycles and implications of sedimentary processes (e.g., diagenetic reactions) for macro/micro-nutrient cycling and paleoproxy development
• 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
• Historical ecology and perspectives of fisheries, marine organisms, and human interactions with marine ecosystems

OCB especially encourages activities that:

• Focus on and/or incorporate historical observations and indigenous knowledge
• Address community guideposts such as IPCC AR6, NAS Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade, 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:

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

All proposals should include the scientific rationale and detailed description of the activity, links (if applicable) to previous OCB activities, benefit(s) to the broader OCB community, 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 substantial (>20% of the travel support budget) non-US participation requires a funding contribution from a non-US partner program or entity. In your budget, please assess potential venues and include specifically itemized travel support (typically organizers, invited speakers, early career stipends), catering, hotel, meeting room and A/V costs, transportation (e.g., shuttle between hotel and meeting site if necessary), publications, etc. 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. For guidance on planning an OCB activity (from proposal and budget development stage all the way through to the completion of the activity and submission of outcomes), read our newly updated OCB Planning Guidelines. The guidelines include required pre-proposal task details.

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 14, 2022 at midnight (ET) for consideration by the OCB SSC. Decisions will be announced by the end of the 2022 calendar year.