Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry: Building a Community from the Bottom Up

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program and its Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) were created by NSF, NASA, and NOAA in 2006 to promote, plan, and coordinate collaborative, multidisciplinary research opportunities on marine biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem processes within the U.S. and with international partners. OCB focuses on the ocean’s role as a component of the global Earth system, bringing together research in biology, chemistry, and physics to advance our understanding of marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycling.

The OCB Project Office, which is based at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), provides an important service to the scientific community by organizing timely and strategic community workshops and activities; developing and communicating OCB and OCB-relevant products and activities; interfacing with and providing direct input to national and international carbon cycle science programs and activities; and developing education and outreach activities and products with the goal of promoting ocean carbon science to broader audiences.

The scope of OCB-related activities encompasses a hierarchy from single and multi-investigator research projects to larger, coordinated efforts currently in the planning stages. Here we will provide an overview of OCB, including its programmatic structure and current scientific foci, and report on key outcomes and challenges of recent OCB activities related to climate change.