By Jay Pearlman
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has established the U.S. National Committee for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (U.S. National Committee) to inspire U.S. contributions to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), and, to serve as the organizational center for coordination of U.S. scientific initiatives.
The U.S. National Committee provides a communications and information focal point for U.S. Decade activities, a network of Nexus organizations, newsletter, events calendar, and social media. The Committee also facilitates development of partnerships in support of U.S. Ocean Decade related ocean science activities.
To engage the scientific community, the Committee issued a call for “Ocean-Shots” research concepts, linked to the ten “Challenges” set forth in the UN Ocean Decade’s Implementation Plan. The Committee’s vision for the Ocean-Shots is to foster the creation of exciting programs to engage the science community, funders, the public, and policy makers. Building on the impressive responses to the call for Ocean-Shots (over 100 submissions), the U.S. Committee has identified cross-cutting themes that complement U.S. ocean priorities and UN Ocean Decade activities. The themes will foster a multidisciplinary approach for initiation of research activities to advance sustainable development goals for the Ocean Decade.