The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program is soliciting proposals for OCB activities that will take place during the 2018 calendar year. OCB seeks proposals for scoping workshops and smaller group activities in OCB-relevant research areas, including ocean acidification.
OCB seeks proposals for:
- Scoping workshops (50-70 people) that bring together an appropriate body of expertise to foster discussions and develop forward momentum in a specific OCB-relevant research area
- Small working groups (8-12 members) to address targeted science goals/questions and develop products that benefit the broader OCB community
- Synthesis activities to assimilate existing data, model outputs, etc. to support and inform future research efforts
- Intercomparison activities to compare and build consensus on approaches (methodological, modeling, data analysis, etc.) for advancing OCB-relevant research
Please visit the OCB website to learn about previous workshops and other OCB activities. OCB has recently been involved in numerous workshops and scientific planning activities that have generated guidelines and recommendations for future research in OCB-relevant research areas. OCB also encourages proposals that strengthen collaboration with partner programs such as SOLAS, IMBeR, US CLIVAR, IOCCP, and GEOTRACES.
Please submit workshop proposals electronically to the OCB Project Office (hbenway(at)whoi.edu) by December 1, 2017 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) programmatic relevance (20%); 3) potential community impact (20%); and 4) timeliness with regard to OCB’s current scientific priorities and previous activities (20%). Decisions will be announced by end of calendar year 2017.
Current OCB Research Priorities
- Climate- and human-driven changes in ocean chemistry (e.g., acidification, expanding low-oxygen conditions, nutrient loading, etc.) and associated impacts on biogeochemical cycles and marine ecosystems
- Ocean carbon uptake and storage
- Estuarine and coastal carbon fluxes and processes, including exchanges with open ocean, terrestrial, and atmospheric reservoirs
- Water column and seafloor ecological and biogeochemical processes and associated effects on carbon export and the biological pump
- Molecular-level responses of marine organisms (primarily lower trophic levels, including plankton, mollusks, etc.) to their changing environment
- Impacts of evolutionary changes on plankton community structure, function and biogeochemical cycling in the face of global change
Proposal Guidelines
Proposals should be a maximum of 5 pages in length and should explicitly address
- how the workshop supports and advances OCB research and observational priorities; and
- workshop products and outcomes (science plans, data syntheses, algorithms, small group activities, etc.) that will benefit the OCB community.
All proposals should include the rationale for and detailed description of the activity, a budget, and a budget justification. No salary may be included in the budget.
Scoping workshops
Scoping workshop proposals should include preliminary logistical information, including potential time frame and venue, and workshop outcomes (reports, special journal volumes, etc.) and their benefits to the OCB community as a whole. The maximum budget for scoping workshops is $65,000.
Other activities
Other proposed activities should be a maximum duration of 2 years 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 time line for the activity with target dates for products and outcomes, as well as anticipated OCB Project Office scientific and/or logistical support needs.
