The Ocean Research Advisory Panel (ORAP) today concluded its first meeting since its reauthorization in the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. ORAP is tasked with advising the Ocean Policy Committee on areas including national ocean research priorities; implementation of the implement the National Oceanographic Partnership Program; national oceanographic science, engineering, facilities, and resource requirements; improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the ocean sciences and related fields.
During the meeting, among other things administration officials noted that the National Strategy for a Sustainable Ocean Economy will be released in 2024 as a high-level document that is not as granular as the Ocean Climate Action Plan), and said that a high-level meeting will be convened in January in support of the development of a National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy.
ORAP members also spent time addressing the following two tasks for 2024:
- Task 1: Emerging industries in the ocean economy – advise OPC on areas of opportunity for partnership (such as through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program) on the topic of emerging technology (which could include Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, eDNA, and similar technology) with ocean industry and other sectors over the next 5-10 years
- Task 2: Identify a subject about which ORAP believes is important for the Ocean Policy Committee to receive more information and recommendations for consideration (ORAP self-tasking)
As a result of deliberations among the group over the course of the 2-day meeting, ORAP decided to establish work groups to first focus on the following two areas:
(1) biogeochemical observing (including eDNA), including application of related technologies, evaluation of the state of its maturity (including identification of the players and relevant partnership mechanisms and opportunities), and summarization of existing work on this subject; and
(2) data, including the current state of play for federal agencies, insight into data-related barriers, and identification of the relevant players and partnership mechanisms and opportunities
ORAP’s next meetings will take place on Feb. 26 (virtual), May 21-22, and Sept. 4-5 (locations TBD), and a detailed summary of the two-day meeting is provided below.
Welcome Remarks by NOAA Administrator
Joining remotely from the AGU Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Dr. Rick Spinrad NOAA Administrator welcomed ORAP members, underscored the value of ocean research, and discussed ORAP’s role in supporting ocean research and advising the Ocean Policy Committee (OPC).
With regard to ORAP’s advisory role to the OPC, Spinrad specifically highlighted ORAP’s task of advising the OPC on implementation of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. In doing so, he encouraged ORAP to partner with users including emergency managers, tribes, industry, and the “New Blue Economy” sector (data products and services), and said he looks forward to receiving ORAP’s recommendations and advice.
Spinrad also noted his participation at COP28 in Dubai, where he said key takeaways included sentiment on the value of science and the oceans, including themes surrounding marine carbon dioxide removal, increased understanding of ocean acidification, and data collection needs of ocean users.
Session: Initial Engagement between the OPC and ORAP
During this session, OPC Co-Chair Brenda Mallory (White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair) and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Deputy Director for Climate and Environment Dr. Jane Lubchenco (on behalf of OPC Co-Chair Arati Prabhakar) talked about ORAP-OPC engagement and OPC tasking including current OPC and administration priorities through the OPC Action Plan.
In introductory remarks, Mallory thanked ORAP members for their participation in the group and emphasized the importance of breaking down siloes and working across sectors in an interdisciplinary way. She also shared the Biden-Harris vision for an ocean that is vibrant, clean, bountiful, culturally accessible, and life-sustaining for current and future generations, adding that the ocean protects and feeds us, stabilizes the climate, and supports industries around the world (specifically citing recreation, shipping, and trade). In doing so, Mallory highlighted the administration’s Ocean Climate Action Plan, which she said accelerates a whole-of-government, coordinated approach to ocean-based climate action and points to new climate solutions. She said that the Ocean Climate Action Plan can be a blueprint for the United States as well as other countries engaged in ocean-based climate adaptation and mitigation, and said the administration is excited to continue to learn from other nations as the plan is implemented.
Mallory also noted the Ocean Climate Action Plan’s call for the development of an Ocean Justice Strategy, which she noted was released during COP28 in Dubai. She said the Strategy reflects the President’s belief that all people should have equitable access to the benefits that the ocean provides, including good-paying jobs, healthy and plentiful food, functioning coastal ecosystems that protect from extreme weather, clean energy like offshore wind, and access to recreation, transportation, and trade. Mallory added that for the first time, the federal government is integrating the principles of equity and environmental justice into federal ocean activities, including conservation, marine resource management, and infrastructure projects, and closed by noting ORAP’s role in advancing the President’s agenda.
Lubchenco talked about how the administration is “moving with great purpose and ambition” on multiple fronts including the Ocean Climate Action Plan, Ocean Justice Strategy, and National Strategy for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, stating that all these initiatives signal that the administration is serious, ambitious, and focused, and that ORAP’s guidance is needed to help shape federal policy and make their work even better. She also cited administration actions to address ocean challenges, including acceleration of renewable energy, green shipping, coastal resilience, and marine conservation, which she said can also provide good-paying jobs, thriving communities, healthy ocean ecosystems, more equitable access to the benefits provided by the ocean, and a more diverse workforce.
In stressing the need to push for solutions that will achieve the greatest benefit, she said that a collective effort that leverages the best attributes of diverse partners will be most successful and durable, with a critical role for tribal nations, local, state, and territorial governments, the private sector, academia, NGOs, and a wide range of stakeholders. In that regard, she noted the role that ORAP can play in ensuring such a collective effort reflective of those various groups, and noted the OPC’s request that ORAP begin its work with the following two taskings:
- Task 1: Emerging industries in the ocean economy – advise OPC on areas of opportunity for partnership (such as through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program) on the topic of emerging technology (which could include Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, eDNA, and similar technology) with ocean industry and other sectors over the next 5-10 years
- Task 2: Identify a subject about which ORAP believes is important for the Ocean Policy Committee to receive more information and recommendations for consideration (ORAP self-tasking)
Session: Overview of OPC & Subcommittees
During this session, Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee (SOST) Co-Chair Danielle Farelli (White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Asst. Director for Ocean Science and Technology) and National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) Co-Chair Jeremy Weirich (NOAA Ocean Exploration Director) provided overviews of their group’s respective structures and functions.
Additionally, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Asst. Director for Ocean Policy Deerin Babb-Brott and White House Council on Environmental Quality Deputy Director for Ocean Resource Management Amanda Carter provided an overview of the Ocean Policy Committee (OPC) and OPC’s Ocean Research Management (ORM) Subcommittee.
As part of their presentations (also see here), areas of focus included implementation of the Ocean Climate Action Plan and Ocean Justice Strategy, development of the National Strategy for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (to be released in 2024 as a high-level document, not as granular as the Ocean Climate Action Plan) and National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy (high-level meeting to be convened in January), ocean exploration and characterization, ocean acidification, and public-private partnerships to improve ocean knowledge, including in the area of marine carbon dioxide removal.
Session: ORAP Priorities & Goals
ORAP members and OPC, ORM, SOST, and NOPP representatives next discussed priorities and goals as context for OPC taskings, specifically focusing on the request that ORAP advise the OPC on areas of opportunity for partnership (such as through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program) on the topic of emerging technology (which could include Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, eDNA, and similar technology) with ocean industry and other sectors over the next 5-10 years.
During the discussion, participants discussed partnership models beyond the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, including through the Coastal Zone Management Program, cooperative coastal mapping efforts (e.g., California/Oregon), regional ocean partnerships, Integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations, Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind, Regional Fishery Management Councils, Federal Interagency Operational Plans for National Preparedness, Department of Defense Climate Action Plans, and cultural landscapes (e.g., including tribal cultural landscapes for offshore wind).
In doing so, among other things ORAP members noted the federal role in curating and managing data, underscored the need to address data sharing challenges and siloes within the federal government in order to achieve successful partnerships on emerging technology, and highlighted opportunities to engage citizen scientists and younger generations through partnerships, including potentially through partnerships with the gaming industry.
As to potential emerging technology topics, members discussed the importance of focusing on technologies that industry can both grow and sell, in addition to ensuring that the applicable technology can be applied to addressing a problem. Specific suggestions included focusing on emerging technologies that enable rapid response, water quality prediction, weather prediction, structural health monitoring, ocean use co-location, adaptation, use of cell phone technology for ocean science and technology and emergency response purposes, and data processing, analysis, standardization, accessibility, and incorporation into products. Others urged inclusion of social sciences, and consideration of (1) carbon emissions associated with use of the technology, (2) emerging uses employed by existing industries, as well as existing data. that can help transform ocean management, and (3) measurement of marine plastic pollution associated with runoff from artificial turf fields.
Discussion also emphasized the need for a stepwise approach that would first identify the problem ORAP wants to solve, and then identify relevant partnerships and emerging technologies to address it.
Public Comment Session
During the public comment session, Center for Ocean Leadership Director Sonya Legg provided background on her organization, their role in various partnerships, and how they can provide support for ORAP, as well as the need to integrate existing ocean observing technologies with new technologies.
Additionally, former NOAA Acting Chief Scientist and Assistant Administrator for Research Craig McLean highlighted the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance as global partnerships to leverage, the need to strengthen ocean science and technology, the importance of more investments in ocean observing technology, opportunities for the U.S. Treasury Department to issue a declarative statement that tax benefits can inure to those who donate ocean data to the government, and the opportunity to engage industry to identify impediments to public-private partnerships.
ORAP Member Discussion on Day 1
During this session, ORAP members reflected on what was discussed on Day 1. Keys areas of identified need or focus for the ocean research community that were mentioned include ocean observing, development of an integrated buoy and satellite network for real-time marine mammal monitoring and ship alerting, accessible, standardized, interoperable, and commercialized data (including related to offshore wind and whale migration), impediments to partnerships and industry sharing data and mechanisms for resolving them, the role partnerships and technology can play in enhancing management flexibility and responsiveness, how to transition forward with emerging technologies in an equitable way, the development of autonomous platforms to help support NOAA fishery-related surveys, the facilitation of international partnerships, and better understanding ocean atmospheric conditions and how they are driving climate.
During the discussion, members also suggested incorporating the principle of ocean science into ORAP’s future work products, underscored the importance of incorporating perspectives of end users into ORAP’s work, and highlighted the need to identify the problem that ORAP is attempting to solve.
ORAP Member Discussion on Next Steps for Tasking
Members began by discussing where the ocean research community is primed for action and able to focus effort over the next 5-10 years, with participants identifying areas including ocean observing (including the Arctic and offshore wind-related), Office of Naval Research development of underwater navigation arrays for the Arctic and possible development of an Arctic Argo, inclusion of indigenous participation in research, eDNA, use of remote operations/autonomous technologies, carbon emissions tracking of NOAA’s vessel/aviation fleet, data integration, environmental thresholds for marine species, development of a large language model to make existing oceanographic data more predictive, offshore wind-related Atlantic Coast passive acoustic monitoring, ocean pollution reduction, NOAA’s Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative, the U.S. Coastal Research Program, the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System.
Among other things, members also discussed mechanisms for achieving success, including through the Small Business Innovation Research program and engaging industry research partners including fishing and tourism vessels and the maritime transport sector, and underscored the importance of data collection, storage, co-development with end users, and processing, funding (including a potential flagship program dedicated to marine research), and the need to make data and research more trusted by end users.
Members also addressed gaps in the current federal ocean research approach, with areas cited including capacity (funding), including indigenous communities in research, siloed agency activities/missions, data (including ocean-related GHG emissions and risk data for existing and proposed nearshore/onshore structures), workforce development, ocean and science literacy, and improvement in the use of/accessibility to data hosted in programs like NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
Cross-cutting themes that emerged included plastic, noise, and nutrient pollution; biodiversity; climate change (including characterization, mitigation, and adaptation); coastal and community resilience; and environmental justice and equitable management of resources, opportunity, and impacts. One member also expressed interest in exploring “overextraction” of natural resources (including fish biomass and seabed mining/minerals) as part of ORAP’s work.
In terms of technologies that could help address these areas, eDNA and next generation biological monitoring, autonomous systems and robotics, long-term continuous interdisciplinary observing networks, and large-scale accessible, interoperable, and trusted data were specifically mentioned, with AI/machine learning seen more as a tool to be used rather than a technology vertical, and diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion being a cross-cutting theme central to any ORAP deliverable. One member also asked that aquaculture be considered as a technology, while others suggested paring back the number of technologies to make a 2024 deliverable more feasible, including moving the data item to Task 2.
Next Steps
In terms of next steps, ORAP’s next meetings will take place on Feb. 26 (virtual), May 21-22, and Sept. 4-5 (locations TBD), with a deliverable on at least Task 1 prior to the end of the administration’s first term.
To support ORAP’s work in 2024, two work groups were also established to focus on the following:
(1) biogeochemical observing (including eDNA), including application of related technologies, evaluation of the state of its maturity (including identification of the players and relevant partnership mechanisms and opportunities), and summarization of existing work on this subject; and
(2) data, including the current state of play for federal agencies, insight into data-related barriers, and identification of the relevant players and partnership mechanisms and opportunities
