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Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean
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Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade
Committee on Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S.
Contributions to the Ocean Decade
Ocean Studies Board
Division on Earth and Life Studies
A Consensus Study Report of
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Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022.
Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC:
The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26363.
Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade
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Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade
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Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade
COMMITTEE ON CROSS-CUTTING THEMES FOR U.S.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE OCEAN DECADE
LARRY A. MAYER (NAE), Chair, University of New Hampshire, Durham
MARK R. ABBOTT, Vice Chair, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
Massachusetts
CAROL ARNOSTI, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CLAUDIA BENITEZ-NELSON, University of South Carolina, Columbia
ANJALI BOYD, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
ANNIE BRETT, Levin College of Law, University of Florida, Gainesville
THOMAS S. CHANCE, ASV Global, LLC (ret.), Broussard, Louisiana
DANIEL COSTA, University of California, Santa Cruz
JOHN R. DELANEY, University of Washington (ret.), Seattle
ANGEE DOERR, Oregon State University, Oregon Sea Grant, Corvallis
SCOTT GLENN, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
PATRICK HEIMBACH, The University of Texas at Austin
MARCIA ISAKSON, The University of Texas at Austin
LEKELIA JENKINS, Arizona State University, Tempe
SANDRA KNIGHT, University of Maryland, College Park
NANCY KNOWLTON (NAS), Smithsonian Institution (ret.), Washington,
District of Columbia
ANTHONY MacDONALD, Monmouth University, West Long Branch,
New Jersey
JACQUELINE McGLADE, University College London, United Kingdom
THOMAS J. MILLER, University of Maryland, Solomons
S. BRADLEY MORAN, University of Alaska Fairbanks
RUTH M. PERRY, Shell Exploration & Production Company, Houston, Texas
JAMES SANCHIRICO, University of California, Davis
MARK J. SPALDING, The Ocean Foundation, Washington, District of
Columbia
LYNNE D. TALLEY, Scripps Oceanography, San Diego, California
ROBERT S. WINOKUR, Michigan Tech Research Institute, Silver Spring,
Maryland
GRACE C. YOUNG, X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory, Mountain View,
California
Staff
SUSAN ROBERTS, Director
VANESSA CONSTANT, Associate Program Officer
SHELLY-ANN FREELAND, Financial Business Partner (through January 2022)
THANH NGUYEN, Financial Business Partner
ELIZABETH COSTA, Senior Program Assistant
v
Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade
OCEAN STUDIES BOARD
CLAUDIA BENITEZ-NELSON, Chair, University of South Carolina,
Columbia
MARK R. ABBOTT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
CAROL ARNOSTI, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
LISA M. CAMPBELL, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
THOMAS S. CHANCE, ASV Global, LLC (ret.), Broussard, Louisiana
DANIEL COSTA, University of California, Santa Cruz
JOHN R. DELANEY, University of Washington (ret.), Seattle
SCOTT GLENN, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
PATRICK HEIMBACH, The University of Texas at Austin
MARCIA ISAKSON, The University of Texas at Austin
LEKELIA JENKINS, Arizona State University, Tempe
NANCY KNOWLTON (NAS), Smithsonian Institution (ret.), Washington,
District of Columbia
ANTHONY MacDONALD, Monmouth University, West Long Branch,
New Jersey
THOMAS J. MILLER, University of Maryland, Solomons
S. BRADLEY MORAN, University of Alaska Fairbanks
RUTH M. PERRY, Shell Exploration & Production Company, Houston, Texas
JAMES SANCHIRICO, University of California, Davis
MARK J. SPALDING, The Ocean Foundation, Washington, District of
Columbia
ROBERT S. WINOKUR, Michigan Tech Research Institute, Silver Spring,
Maryland
Staff
SUSAN ROBERTS, Director
STACEE KARRAS, Senior Program Officer
KELLY OSKVIG, Senior Program Officer
EMILY TWIGG, Senior Program Officer
ALEXANDRA SKRIVANEK, Associate Program Officer (through February
2022)
VANESSA CONSTANT, Associate Program Officer
SHELLY-ANN FREELAND, Financial Business Partner (through January
2022)
THANH NGUYEN, Financial Business Partner
KENZA SIDI-ALI-CHERIF, Senior Program Assistant (through March 2022)
ELIZABETH COSTA, Senior Program Assistant
GRACE CALLAHAN, Program Assistant
vi
Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade
Preface
T
he United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Devel-
opment 2021–2030 (UN Ocean Decade) provides a pathway to support
and implement a globally coordinated scientific effort to develop solutions
for ensuring the health and sustainability of our life-sustaining oceans. For many
who have devoted their lives to the study of the ocean, the UN Ocean Decade is
an opportunity to highlight the critical importance of the oceans to the long-term
well-being of humankind. The UN Ocean Decade’s Implementation Plan (which
benefited tremendously from the input of U.S. Executive Planning Group repre-
sentatives—Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade, Margaret Leinen, Craig McLean,
and Linwood Pendleton) describes outcomes that, if achieved, would ensure that
we have “the ocean we need for the future we want.” The challenge to the global
community is to define and execute the science needed to make these outcomes
a reality.
While the UN Ocean Decade provides overarching guidance, much of the
work and particularly the funding for UN Ocean Decade efforts will happen on
a national or regional level. Recognizing the fundamental importance of healthy
and sustainable oceans to the United States and the historic leadership role that
the United States has played in ocean sciences, Craig McLean, Assistant Ad-
ministrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and Acting Chief Scientist at
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, led the effort to promote
UN Ocean Decade activities both within the federal government and through
the establishment of the nongovernmental, U.S. National Committee for the UN
Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (U.S. National Commit-
tee), hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
vii
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Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade
viii PREFACE
The U.S. National Committee and the nation owe Craig a tremendous debt for
his inspirational and tireless efforts to support the concepts and principles of the
UN Ocean Decade and particularly the role that the United States can play in it.
His challenge to the U.S. National Committee—to inspire the U.S. community
to develop audacious and transformative science in support of the UN Ocean De-
cade—led then U.S. National Committee vice-chair Rick Spinrad to propose the
concept of “Ocean-Shots.” The tremendous response to the call for Ocean-Shots
clearly demonstrated the creativity, breadth, and capacity of the U.S. community
and set the framework for this report.
In October 2021, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, called on
the National Academies to produce this consensus report and recommend several
cross-cutting themes based on the Ocean-Shots and complemented by U.S. ocean
science priorities and UN Ocean Decade outcomes. This led to frenetic activity
on the part of the consensus committee, the Committee on Cross-Cutting Themes
for U.S. Contributions to the Ocean Decade, which was made more difficult by
the inability to meet in person. The committee’s hard work and thoughtful input
helped us meet very short deadlines. Most importantly, credit must be given
to Ocean Studies Board director Susan Roberts and associate program officer
Vanessa Constant who, with the excellent assistance of senior program assistant
Elizabeth Costa, worked tirelessly to put together a coherent report.
The recommendations of this report offer what we believe to be a bold plan
for the future of ocean science in support of sustainable development. The sug-
gested themes offer frameworks for developing solutions to critical issues of
ocean health and global well-being, while also defining new and more inclusive
ways of doing ocean science. At this point, however, they are only frameworks.
Whether they grow into fully defined research programs that will lead to the
“ocean we need for the future we want” will depend on the response of those
to whom this report is submitted. With leadership from the federal agencies, in
conjunction with international efforts and contributions from other sectors, the
research community will provide the science necessary to achieve a sustainable
ocean.
Larry A. Mayer, Chair
Committee on Cross-Cutting Themes for
U.S. Contributions to the Ocean Decade
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