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Biological Oceanography Description  The Biological Oceanography Program supports research in marine ecology broadly defined - relationships among marine organisms and their interactions with the environment of the sea. Projects that fall within the purview of the Program may focus on marine environments ranging from estuarine and coastal systems to the deep sea, and also include studies in the Great Lakes. Areas of research include ecosystem and biogeochemical processes; community and population ecology; behavioral, reproductive and life-history ecology; physiological and chemical ecology; and evolutionary ecology.
Inter-disciplinary projects that apply diverse techniques (including molecular, cellular, and biochemical ones) to ecological problems are particularly encouraged. Proposals that primarily focus on mechanistic physiology, cell biology, biochemistry, molecular genetics, systematics, etc. – without a strong and explicit focus on compelling ecological concerns – may be more appropriate for programs in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO). Similarly, some ocean-focused, interdisciplinary studies may be more appropriately led by one of the other programs in OCE, such as Chemical or Physical Oceanography. PI's are encouraged to contact a Program Officer by phone or e-mail and to browse existing awards to determine where their proposals are likely to be most appropriately directed. Awards are made to individual scientists, small groups of cooperating scientists, and multi-investigator collaborations that involve larger-scale, multi-disciplinary projects. Approximately half of the funding for Biological Oceanography presently provides support for such focused and inter-disciplinary research. Much of this is in response to focused solicitations for research proposals. The Biological Oceanography Program, and the Division of Ocean Sciences of which it is a part, has encouraged, supported and participated in community discussions about fruitful directions, opportunities and priorities for future research. This is a continuing process by which the Division and its Programs get community input on the compelling directions for ocean research. The emphasis areas mentioned below track many recommendations that the science community conveys to the NSF through these dialogues. It should be mentioned, however, that there is no intent to make these emphasis areas the sole themes of interest in the Biological Oceanography Program. It is also a certainty that these emphases will change over time. The following documents provide a context for some current research directions as well as suggest areas where there may be future funding opportunities: A report of a “futures” workshop sponsored by Biological Oceanography to provide an assessment of the field and an attempt to provide a vision of what it could become over the next few decades. Please email ocepubs@nsf.gov if you would like a copy. A report describing the most important and promising opportunities for discovery and new understanding in the ocean sciences over the next decade. Please email ocepubs@nsf.gov if you would like a copy. A report of a focused community workshop aimed at highlighting the research that needs to be done to document the importance of ecosystem dynamics and food-web structure in controlling the rates of carbon fixation and fate of organic carbon in the marine environment. A report of a community workshop aimed at defining the science needed to understand the influence of climate change on processes controlling the ocean carbon cycle, as well as potential feedbacks to the climate system via carbon exchanges among the ocean, atmosphere and land. Specific themes of emphasis within Biological Oceanography:
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Division of Ocean Sciences,
NSF