U.S. MBON Projects
2019 - Present
In October 2019, the U.S. MBON government sponsors (U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System/US IOOS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/NOAA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration/NASA, Office of Naval Research/ONR and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management/BOEM) awarded six new three-year U.S. MBON projects:
- Francisco Chavez, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute: The CeNCOOS MBON: Integrating remote sensing, in situ data and models to understand central California ecosystem responses to environmental change
- Katrin Iken, University of Alaska - Fairbanks: A sustainable, integrated AMBON in the Chukchi Sea
- Maria Kavanaugh, Oregon State University: Marine Biodiversity Observing Network in the Northern California Current: Understanding patterns and drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning from plankton to seascapes
- Bob Miller, University of California - Santa Barbara: Southern California Bight Marine Biodiversity Observation Network
- Jeffrey Runge, Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS): MBON expansion into the Gulf of Maine: the NERACOOS/NROC Integrated Sentinel Monitoring Network (ISMN)
- Frank Muller-Karger, University of South Florida: Implementing a Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) in South Florida to Advance Ecosystem-Based Management
2013 - 2018
The new projects build on the lessons learned and the progress made during the initial set of U.S. MBON demonstrations (2013-2018):
The new MBON projects will expand coverage beyond the initial demonstrations to cover the Arctic, Northern California Current, Central California, Southern California Bight, South Florida, and Gulf of Maine. They are a key step in evolving an integrated and operational marine biological observing capability for the US oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes, integrating biological observations across taxonomic, spatial and temporal scales and advancing technologies for automated collection of biological observations.
U.S. MBON projects also complement the experimental biodiversity efforts carried out by the Smithsonian-led MarineGEO.