Committee is to facilitate and encourage sponsorship of research to help meet the scientific challenges of the UN Ocean Decade. The UN Ocean Decade aims to advance progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by raising awareness of opportunities in ocean sciences and enabling the connection between scientists with promising research concepts and potential funders in the private and public sectors. To foster collaboration across sectors, the U.S. National Committee has established a communications and information hub through the creation of a dedicated website, public meetings, a Nexus consisting of U.S. organizations with an interest in the UN Ocean Decade, newsletters, and social media.

In the fall of 2020, the U.S. National Committee held a public virtual meeting to issue a call for “Ocean-Shots,” defined as ambitious, transformational research concepts that draw inspiration and expertise from multiple disciplines and fundamentally advance ocean science for sustainable development. Information about the Ocean-Shot request was shared on the U.S. National Committee website,¹ via the U.S. National Committee newsletter, and through announcements shared by federal agencies and nonfederal organizations. The U.S. National Committee’s vision was to foster the creation of programs of such broad-reaching scale and relevance that they would capture the imagination of the science community, funders, the public, and policy makers, much like the “moonshot” mission to the Moon of the 1960s.²

The call for Ocean-Shots offered a series of criteria for the submissions. These included demonstrating potential transformative impact; engaging scientific, technical, and other sectors outside the traditional ocean sciences; building capacity and a cadre of next-generation ocean scientists; and directly addressing at least 1 of the 10 “Challenges” set forth in the UN Ocean Decade’s Implementation Plan (see Table 1.1). The U.S. National Committee anticipated that many of the ideas submitted as Ocean-Shots could be developed into projects or programs for submission to the UN Ocean Decade for endorsement. Consequently, the criteria also included identification of opportunities for international participation and collaboration. The Ocean-Shots were not meant to duplicate the UN Ocean Decade call for actions; rather, these submissions were meant to provide the impetus for the development of new projects and programs over the course of the decade, including building on UN Ocean Decade–endorsed actions with significant input from the U.S. ocean community. The response to the call for Ocean-Shots yielded more than 100 submissions, demonstrating the breadth, creativity, and enthusiasm of the U.S. ocean science and engineering communities.

Building on the robust response to the call for Ocean-Shots, the U.S. National Committee continues to foster further development of the Ocean-Shot concepts through coordination with the National Science and Technology Council’s

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¹ See nationalacademies.org/oceandecadeus.

² See https://www.jfklibrary.org/visit-museum/exhibits/past-exhibits/moon-shot-jfk-and-spaceexploration.

Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST), representing the primary federal agencies that fund ocean science in the United States. In October 2021, the SOST asked the U.S. National Committee to identify between three and five cross-cutting themes emerging from the Ocean-Shots that complement U.S. ocean priorities, as described in Science and Technology for America’s Oceans: A Decadal Vision (U.S. Decadal Vision; SOST, 2018); align with the overall goal of the UN Ocean Decade; and could potentially lead to new UN Ocean Decade–endorsed actions. The SOST further emphasized that these themes should bring a multidisciplinary approach to achieve “ocean science for sustainable development.” With funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Committee on Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the Ocean Decade was appointed in October 2021 by the National Academies to undertake this task based on the membership of the U.S. National Committee and including four early career liaisons. This consensus study committee has proposed two foundational themes and four topical themes. The themes described here present frameworks for future development of research programs that provide sustainable solutions to the ocean challenges identified by the UN Ocean Decade. The foundational themes address the underlying infrastructure of how to conduct the science, ensuring that information and resources are accessible, applicable, and meet the needs of diverse communities through engagement in the development of research priorities and co-production of knowledge. The foundational themes will provide protocols and best practices for application within each of the four topical themes. The topical themes address fundamental aspects of sustainability and offer frameworks under which exciting new research programs can be further refined and developed. The successful realization of these themes will see the tangible demonstration of a healthier and more productive ocean and the implementation of practices to ensure the sustainability and continued improvement of the ocean as a whole.

FOUNDATIONAL THEMES

In identifying research themes for the U.S. contribution to the UN Ocean Decade, the committee recognized that there were two fundamental issues that needed to be addressed to ensure the success of all UN Ocean Decade research efforts. An Inclusive and Equitable Ocean, the first foundational theme, recognizes that increasing awareness, understanding, and access to the ocean can only be achieved through the integral involvement and support of a diverse, representative, and inclusive ocean community. Innovation is driven by diverse teams that facilitate novel thinking and adaptability.

Equity, inclusiveness, respect, fairness, and scientific integrity are core principles of the UN Ocean Decade that must be infused into all activities so that, in the words of the UN Ocean Decade, “no one is left behind” and all are empowered to contribute to the ocean science enterprise. For this theme, success will

be in the creation of an environment where different ideas and a diversity of viewpoints are sought and considered as integral to the process for identifying, developing, conducting, and applying ocean science. Scientific decisions will be made with interdisciplinary contributions, representing participation of many groups and recognizing the value of local knowledge and different knowledge systems. In addition, those who conduct ocean-related activities will reflect the diverse communities that use and benefit from ocean studies. It represents an opportunity to widen participation in the ocean enterprise to include groups not generally represented in key decision points for the design and use of novel ocean research. The need to expand participation crosses all aspects of ocean studies including the natural and social sciences; ocean literacy, education, and professional development; ocean governance, policy, and management; ocean industry; and others. In the United States, UN Ocean Decade activities will be distinguished by the level of engagement of communities outside the realm of traditional academic research, including the following:

• All four topical themes actively involve the broad community in the development of their research plans, as well as create, implement, and adaptively monitor the outcomes of an equity and inclusion action plan.
• All communities feel welcome to engage in Ocean Decade activities, with recognition of their interests, concerns, and active participation.
• Metrics are developed, applied, and documented such that each community can track meaningful points of progress in creating an equitable and inclusive Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
• Ocean science, knowledge, educational materials, and social engagement are made accessible and broadly available through an open access platform.

Initial efforts on this foundational theme will define mechanisms for an inclusive and equitable ocean, establishing a framework and methodology to incorporate core principles into each topical theme. This would include early engagement and co-development of research topics and sustained community engagement in data collection, analysis, interpretation, and development of sustainable solutions. The initial outcome will be to elevate and prioritize equity and inclusion and incorporate these core principles during each topical theme’s development. This is fundamental for the UN Ocean Decade and helps define and guide implementation of inclusive and equitable ocean science practices to achieve a more sustainable ocean for everyone.

An Ocean of Data, the second foundational theme, recognizes that there has been a major shift toward the principle of open access for data collected with government funds. However, open access only addresses one aspect of ensuring that the full value of data is realized. Because of the enormous range of data types, quality, and formats, and the enormous range of institutions and

individuals who hold data, availability and usability are often not optimal and fail to consider the potential users of the data and their needs. Some ocean data from past research efforts remain locked away, unorganized, or still difficult to obtain from government agencies, companies, resource users, or researchers. The many examples of siloed data make it difficult to combine the insights and data across programs that are needed for a more interdisciplinary and holistic understanding of the interaction between societal interests and ocean conditions and trends. Such a democratization of data will be required to unleash the full potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).³ The vision of adaptive and dynamic management approaches to our ocean will require open and accessible data and services that are driven by a user-centric and decentralized process. The scientific community (academic, government, and private) needs to rethink the intersections among observing systems, information systems, and knowledge services that are focused on delivering services and solutions, not just more data. This should include the development of strategies to relate place-based and qualitative knowledge to the more quantitative and large-scale, big data approaches and ways to incorporate many types of data, with consideration for different types of evidence that are important for the co-creation of knowledge.

An Ocean of Data will improve data availability and access through the development of a framework for implementing findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) and collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility, and ethics (CARE) data principles and the creation of a path toward a digital ecosystem that delivers ubiquitous compute-intensive data services. Consideration of these digital ocean outcomes will also assist in the operationalization of each topical theme. By the end of the UN Ocean Decade, the committee envisions a network that connects the unconnected, truly engaging those who need knowledge services for ensuring a healthy ocean with those who can create those services. This will create a new era of scalability and flexibility, enabling new solutions to be developed and deployed rapidly, rather than relying on the static and inflexible systems of today that are designed primarily to address specific research questions. In partnership with existing UN Ocean Decade actions and private-sector initiatives, the United States could play a key role in the creation of an open, actionable, and equitable digital ecosystem for ocean knowledge across all ocean arenas.

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³ The potential for AI and ML applications in weather, climate, and Earth system science has been laid out in a number of recent reviews (e.g., Boukabara et al., 2020; Reichstein et al., 2019; and the monograph by Camps-Valls et al., 2021). Broadly, AI/ML tools have the potential to advance ocean sciences in the context of recognition and classification, anomaly detection, regression or inference, space- and/or time-dependent state prediction, acceleration of simulations, autonomous systems and active sampling, and emulation for uncertainty quantification. See NASEM (2022d).

• The development of robust, climate-proof, ecosystem-based approaches that will be routinely used in commercial and recreational fisheries management;
• A dramatically improved understanding of deep-sea and seabed ecosystems globally, with an initial focus on areas targeted for ocean energy development, and to address a rapidly growing interest in mineral exploitation in the face of substantial challenges of conducting comprehensive baseline assessments of seafloor ecosystems; and
• A thriving ocean aquaculture industry that will contribute significantly to the economies of coastal communities and provide ecologically sustainable yields of marine consumables including seaweeds, shellfish, and finfish.

Ocean Solutions for Climate Resilience, the third topical theme, is focused on two key components of the extensive intersection between the ocean and climate. The first is the urgent need to anticipate and plan for coastal change in response to sea level rise and stronger, slower moving, and more frequent coastal storms. The second is the development and implementation of climate mitigation strategies including the expansion of renewable energy generation and development of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and sequestration approaches.

For the first component, environmentally sustainable, equitable, and just adaptation strategies for responding to rising seas and increased coastal flooding will be developed with the affected coastal communities. This will require improvements in regional projections for sea level rise and coastal flooding, increased understanding of the capacity for NBSs to increase coastal resilience under a variety of climate scenarios, and co-development of knowledge and solutions for coastal communities, particularly those at high risk and with low capacity for adaptation. By applying social and human behavioral science studies of risk communication, researchers will be better able to work with coastal communities and Indigenous nations to collectively identify population vulnerabilities and information needs. Through this cooperative approach, improved predictions of weather and climate will be more integrated into community planning for, and response to, more frequent extreme events like flooding, heat, or drought. By 2030, the social, cultural, and institutional drivers needed for a climate resilient future will be fully integrated in the science data and tools to enable an adaptable and resilient coastal zone. This transdisciplinary approach will do the following:

• Allow for a common frame of reference for the development of flood/inundation maps that meet the variety of needs of state and federal agencies;
• Inform coastal planning that balances the adaptation of the communities and built systems disrupted by rising seas and extreme events with the economic drivers that encourage coastal development;

• Enable engagement of highly vulnerable U.S. coastal communities in the development of mitigation and adaptation strategies tailored to their particular needs;
• Improve coastal flooding projections to include compound and multi-hazard risks (e.g., storm surge and heavy rain) and the geomorphic transformation of the coastal zone under a range of climate change scenarios;
• Identify opportunities and challenges for ocean renewable energy; and
• Implement co-development of knowledge and solutions for coastal communities, particularly those at high risk and low capacity for adaptation.

For the second component, programs will focus on enhancing the ocean’s natural ability for carbon capture through approaches such as ecosystem restoration; natural carbon capture technologies (e.g., coastal blue carbon); and habitat restoration for the recovery of depleted and endangered species subject to environmental stressors, including climate change. In addition, this theme highlights the potential for research into ocean-based renewable energy production and comprehensive analyses of material flows, such as critical minerals used in renewable technologies. By 2030, science will have advanced to understand the merits, efficacy, limitations, and environmental risks of ocean-based CDR, including enhancing the ocean’s natural uptake of carbon dioxide under a range of future climate scenarios. The research will provide a more complete understanding of the ethical, legal, and social contexts for ocean CDR and sequestration approaches. Reliable ocean renewable energy will provide a substantial fraction of the nation’s electricity demand while balancing the interests of other critical ocean values (e.g., marine conservation, shipping, fisheries).

Healthy Urban Seas, the fourth topical theme, takes a place-based approach with a focus on densely populated coastal centers where commerce, energy production, recreation, and fisheries depend on the nexus of the ocean environment with human activities. The concentration of human activities in and around these semi-enclosed waters provides a “test-bed” for investigating impacts, such as the run-off of plastics, nutrients, and other pollutants, and developing solutions for the health and resilience of urban seas and, by extension, the coastal ocean more generally. There is much opportunity to expand on the extensive science and data acquisition currently under way in our estuaries and coastal watersheds such as long-term studies of the Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, and Mississippi River Delta. Furthermore, ports are often a critical hub for these urban seas that offer potential partners for seeking low- or no emission solutions and protecting ecosystems. Ships and other vessels may provide ready-to-deploy monitoring platforms. Potential components of this theme include the development of long-term observing systems that include fixed infrastructure and autonomous systems programmed to monitor or track specific features (building on the output of The Ocean Revealed), the development of better methodologies and design guidance

for resilient urban infrastructure, studies of the response of the coastal ecosystem and key species to multiple stressors, and efficacy of remediation efforts.

Urban seas provide a promising test for the development and application of digital twin models that encompass the physical, chemical, biological, and societal characteristics of the system. Such models are ideally suited for the relatively constrained yet complex components of an urban sea setting. The infrastructure and approaches established to monitor and understand U.S. urban seas could be used to model other systems around the world and form the basis for global collaborative projects, and have the potential to develop into a UN Ocean Decade–endorsed program. Importantly, these large population centers offer many opportunities for community engagement in problems that are directly relevant to their well-being. Ocean-related issues could readily be brought to the attention of policy makers with the involvement of diverse communities, provide enrichment activities and field trips for inclusion in school curricula, and enhance engagement through citizen/community science and public events. By integrating across disciplines and interests, Healthy Urban Seas would provide opportunities for creative development and sharing of ideas among a range of backgrounds, expertise, age groups, socioeconomic statuses, and public and private sectors: a pathway toward a more sustainable urban ocean. By 2030, the urban sea will be well characterized through observation and modeling efforts leading to clean waters, enhanced coastal resilience, and greater community engagement. This will include the following:

• Infrastructure to support the blue economy;
• Publicly available quantification of the flux of important properties, such as pollutant concentrations, from one water body to another;
• Major stakeholders identified and engaged in monitoring, research, education, and management applications;
• An urban sea defined and understood through observational and modeling efforts, such as the establishment of a digital twin;
• Measurable improvements in urban sea health through mitigation of pollution sources; and
• Development of a community culture that understands the importance of, and plays an active role in, ensuring a safe and healthy ocean through community engagement (ocean cultural literacy).

Looking across all six themes, several common topics emerge. This is not unexpected; overlapping topics illustrate the interconnections among areas of ocean science. Overlapping topics may indicate fruitful areas for establishing or supporting networks of researchers with related and complementary interests. For example, several themes recognize the lack of information in relatively inaccessible regions including the Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean, and deep ocean

(waters deeper than 200 m and the seafloor), yet the need to understand these regions becomes ever more critical as climate and human stressors drive changes in physical, chemical, and biological processes. Similarly, several themes touch on the demand for information to expand, support, and manage a sustainable blue (or ocean) economy. This includes increasing access to data and models as well as their analysis and interpretation. Application of the information to support sustainable development will require workforce training as well as increased ocean literacy, not just of ocean processes and biology but also of the importance of the ocean for the economy and the cultural heritage of coastal communities.

Identification of themes is only one step toward realizing the goals of science for the “ocean we want” during the UN Ocean Decade. Progress will depend on the development of innovative programs that attract substantial research funding. The committee suggests that next steps involve a series of workshops—first to focus on components of the themes and then to meld these components together into a compelling, overarching program. These workshops will include expertise from outside of the immediate ocean science community to cross-fertilize ideas from other complementary disciplines drawn from the breadth of natural and social science and engineering experts available through the various activities (boards, roundtables, and standing committees) of the National Academies. In addition, representatives from stakeholder groups, including industry and funding organizations (public and private), will be encouraged to attend and participate in the workshops to better represent their interests in program development. For discussion of each topical theme, representatives from the two foundational themes will be present to ensure that the best practices and approaches developed for these themes are effectively integrated.

The UN Ocean Decade represents a global opportunity to advance ocean science, implement sustainable practices, and raise awareness of humanity’s dependence on the ocean. It is also an opportunity for the United States to demonstrate international leadership in furthering efforts to ensure that the ocean continues to support the well-being of communities at home and worldwide, for both current and future generations. The two foundational and four topical themes recommended by the committee, if further developed and funded, have the potential to greatly advance our understanding of the ocean—its processes, resources, and values—to enable “the ocean we need for the future we want.” The UN Ocean Decade also provides an opportunity to rethink how science is conducted with an emphasis on open engagement of a broad, inclusive community in the development and conduct of research matched with greater access to data, data products, and models. Building on the efforts of the U.S. ocean community who submitted Ocean-Shots, activities endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade process, and many complementary efforts such as OceanObs’19 and the High Level Panel reports, the committee offers these themes as the next step toward realizing the promise of the UN Ocean Decade.

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