GCOOS and SECOORA have teamed up for a Spring Webinar Series focused on establishing collaborative opportunities among the U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Acidification Network (GCAN) and the Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN).

The goal is to build synergy across the networks to advance science in support of resource management and the Blue Economy. Series objectives include:

• Advancing understanding of the state of MBON and OA science, with emphasis on the southeast Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico;
• Identifying opportunities to bridge MBON and the OA fields of science;
• Synthesizing lessons learned across MBON and OA activities to develop new partnerships and identify collaborative research opportunities.

Organizing panel members are Dr. Chris Simoniello, GCOOS; Jennifer Vreeland-Dawson, GCOOS/GCAN; Dr. Kim Yates, USGS/GCAN; Dr. Emily Hall, MML/SOCAN; Jennifer Dorton, SECOORA; Emily Noakes, SECOORA.

Webinar 1 — April 11, 2024

Dr. Kim Yates, GCAN Steering Committee Chair, will provide the opening overview, followed by OA speakers Dr. Leticia Barbero, chemical oceanographer, and Dr. Ana Palacio, biologist, NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and MBON speaker, Gabrielle Canonico, NOAA IOOS.

• When: Noon to 1:10 p.m. ET April 11
• Where: GoTo Meeting (download the app here)

Webinar 2 — April 30, 2024

This webinar will focus on techniques that help us monitor ocean animals. Speakers will explore everything from acoustics to eDNA. Speakers include Drs. Luke Thompson, NOAA AOML, Neil Hammerschlag, Atlantic Shark Expeditions, and Jennifer Miksis-Olds, University of New Hampshire.

• When: Noon to 1 p.m. ET April 30
• Where: GoTo Meeting (download the app here)

Webinar 3 — May 30, 2024

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary: Identifying areas of data gaps, data needs and collaborations.

Speakers:

• OA: Dr. Xingping Hu, Texas A&M University (TAMU-CC) Corpus-Christi/ Harte Research Institute
• MBON: Dr. Marissa Nuttall, Research Specialist, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

• When: Noon to 1 p.m. ET May 30
• Where: GoTo Meeting (download the app here)
• Registration: Click here to register now!

The June 27, 2024 has been canceled.

Webinar 4 —  July 25

Ecosystem Services and the Blue Economy

• MBON: Dr. Nathan Furey, Lead Investigator of the Coastal New England Marine Biodiversity Observation Network and Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire, will focus on current tools for measuring marine biodiversity, particularly those of priority for the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network. Dr. Nathan Furey (University of New Hampshire) will discuss potential linkages between marine biodiversity and various ecological functions and ecosystem services.

• OA: Jessie Turner, International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification, will focus on how communication, education and collaboration drives OA policy at a national and international level, and how OA policy shapes the path for research that directly or indirectly looks at impacts of biodiversity.

• When: Noon to 1 p.m. ET  Thursday, July 25
• Where: GoTo Meeting (download the app here)
• Registration: Click here

Webinar 5 —  August 22

International Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) Geo Needs and Efforts

• OA: Dr. Martin Hernandez Ayon, Investigator, del Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas Universidad Autonoma de Baja California. Ayon is Oceanographer with doctoral studies in Coastal Oceanography and postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California. He’s a specialist in the Carbon Dioxide System in seawater and marine biogeochemistry. His research has focused on studying the role of coastal zones in the carbon cycle, including the effect of ocean acidification (AO) on marine ecosystems and the relationship of OA with other stress factors such as hypoxia, climate change, and CO2 fluxes in coastal regions. He has served as the Chair of the Mexican Carbon Program since 2018 and is a Science member of the Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) Executive Council and member of the North American Carbon Program Science Leadership Group
  He is GOA-ON Latin American Ocean Acidification Studies Network (LAOCA) representative.
• MBON: Dr. Frank Müller-Karger is a Professor in the College of Marine Science, University of South Florida. He studies coastal and marine ecosystems including the links between water quality, biological production, and biodiversity, and how these may be connected to climate change and human activities. He uses satellite remote sensing and field work to measure how marine life is changing. Muller-Karger serves as co-lead of the US and international Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), the Marine Life 2030 program endorsed by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the NOAA Climate Program Office/Sanctuaries Climate Indicator Task Force. Muller-Karger promotes science and technology, working with the public to advance environmental conservation, locally, nationally and internationally.

• When: Noon to 1 p.m. ET  Thursday, Aug. 22
• Where: GoTo Meeting (download the app here)
• Registration: Click here