We are happy to inform you that on 5 December 2017 the UN General Assembly proclaimed a new global initiative, the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) to gather ocean stakeholders worldwide behind a common framework that will ensure ocean science can fully support countries in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the ocean.

This new decade-long push to better understand the global ocean will be led by UNESCO-IOC and will begin on 1 January 2021, within existing structures and available resources, "and calls upon the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission to prepare an implementation plan for the Decade in consultation with Member States, specialized agencies, funds, programmes and bodies of the United Nations, as well as other intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and relevant stakeholders." The resolution document stresses the importance of increasing the scientific understanding of the oceans-atmosphere interface, and explicitly encourages participation in ocean observing programmes and geographic information systems, such as the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).

As the goal of proclaiming the Decade is to ensure greater coordination of research, IOCCP is very much looking forward to becoming part of this initiative through fulfilling its mission to promote the development of a global network of ocean carbon and biogeochemistry observations.

We would like to inform you about a new IOCCP website feature "Opportunities for Collaboration" set up in relation to upcoming hydrographic cruises. There is now a dedicated section where we will share any specific collaboration opportunities as well as inquires for such opportunities. You can find this section on our newly-restructured Ocean Interior Observations theme site. 

Currently, there is an open call for piggyback projects onboard R/V Mirai GO-SHIP cruises to I8N & I7S in 2019/20. Please see the site for details.

If you'd like to add any announcements to the list of Opportunities for Collaboration, please contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with a detailed description of the opportunities/needs, cruise details, PI contact information, etc. We hope you will find this new feature on our site useful!

We would like to let you know about a SOLAS Workshop on Remote Sensing for Studying the Ocean-Atmosphere Interface to be held on 13-15 March 2018 in Potomac, Maryland, USA. The workshop will facilitate the exchange of ideas and information about developments in remote sensing that can provide new information about the ocean-atmosphere interface, and will help forge collaborations among workshop participants and with the wider community. More information on the agenda, keynote speakers and logistics is available at http://www.solas-int.org/workshop-on-remote-sensing.html.

Participate and submit an abstract by February 12, 2018 here: http://www.solas-int.org/abstract-submission.html.

We would like to let you know that the Global Nutrients Dataset 2013 (GND13), a new dataset for nutrients in sea water, has just been published. The data in the dataset are traceable to the SI. The GND13 has been well quality-controlled based on data collected during CLIVAR and subsequent GO-SHIP cruises, mainly by the R/V Mirai, where reference materials for nutrients in seawater were used. GDN13 is available online at JAMSTEC web site: http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/catalog/data_catalog/metadataDisp/GND13?lang=en. The dataset should be cited as: Michio Aoyama (2017) Global Nutrients Dataset 2013, JAMSTEC, doi: 10.17596/0000001. If you have any questions, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

In connection to the upcoming 2018 EGU General Assembly, 8-13 April, Vienna, Austria, we provide a subjectively selected list of sessions relevant for the marine biogeochemistry community. You can access the list through the link HERE. If you're interested in adding a session to this list, please send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Please remember that the abstract submission deadline is 10 January 2018, 13:00 CET.

At the close of another year, we would like to thank you sincerely for a very engaging and fruitful time together. May the coming New Year bring us even more novel ideas, stronger collaborations and exciting developments in the world of marine biogeochemistry observations.

Merry Christmas and warm wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year! 

The organizers of OceanObs'19: An Ocean of Opportunity are soliciting abstracts of Community White Papers describing aspirations for the coming decade from all interested groups. The Community White Papers should promote international collaboration and large-scale sustained ocean observing efforts, and address one or ideally more of the seven anticipated themes (Discovery, Ecosystem Health & Biodiversity, Climate Variability & Change, Water, Food, & Energy Security, Pollution & Human Health, Hazards & Maritime Safety, and Blue Economy) and two crosscutting themes on data information system and ocean observing governance. Based on the contributed abstracts of Community White Papers, the OceanObs'19 Program Committee will solicit full Community White Papers in April 2018, to be submitted by end of September 2018. The Program Committee may recommend that authors of particular abstracts collaborate and merge the concepts described in separate abstracts to develop a joint Community White Paper. The papers will be peer-reviewed and published in an open access journal before the conference.

Abstracts are due by 15 March 2018. For all details related to abstract submission and any additional information about the Conference, please check out www.oceanobs19.net or reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

On behalf of the Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas (SOCAT) we would like to remind you about two important deadlines related to the annual update of SOCAT. The deadline for data submission for SOCAT version 6 is 15 January 2018, and the deadline for quality control for SOCAT version 6 is 31 March 2018. As always, we count on your timely contributions to this great community effort.

SCOR is currently reviewing applications for its 2018 Visiting Scholars program, the 10^th year of the program. Many more good applications were received this year than can be supported through existing funding, even though the number of Scholars funded each year has been expanded to five. Therefore, SCOR is seeking funding for one additional Visiting Scholar for 2018.

So far, 26 Visiting Scholars have served in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and South America. SCOR supports the cost of airfare and some local costs, while hosting institutions provide lodging, keeping the cost per Visiting Scholar to a modest 2,500 USD. Donations for one additional Visiting Scholar for 2018 can be made at https://www.razoo.com/story/Yl2u7g. 100% of any donations will be used for the SCOR Visiting Scholars program. Thank you for any support you can provide! For U.S. donors, SCOR's 501(c)(3) tax status does not allow donors to claim donations for tax exemptions.

We are happy to inform you about the publication of the report of the Variability in the Oxycline and its ImpaCts on the Ecosystem (VOICE) Science Plan Workshop which took place on 13-15 September 2017 in Monterey, CA, USA, and hosted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The workshop was a three-day event, held in conjunction with the Global Ocean Oxygen Network (GO₂NE) third annual meeting (11-13 September 2017). The workshop was attended by 22 scientists from around the globe, and was the first opportunity to establish communication and initiate coordination of efforts leading to the implementation of the VOICE project, which is an outcome of the Implementation of Multi-disciplinary Sustained Ocean Observations (IMSOO) workshop in February 2017. The workshop was generously sponsored by GOOS, IOCCP, NOAA and SOLAS, and its organisation was facilitated by the IOCCP Office. 

VOICE will assess the current readiness level of the observing requirements, existing observing capabilities and availability of data products to deliver information on the variability in the oxycline and its impacts on the ecosystem in selected OMZ regions around the globe: the Humboldt Current System, West Africa (Canary and Benguela Current Systems), Northern Indian Ocean, and the California Current System. The VOICE Science Plan Workshop provided an excellent and in depth summary of the regional requirements, observing capability, data and information product management to form a basis for comprehensive observing system readiness level assessment in accordance with the Framework for Ocean Observing guidelines.

You can access the workshop report as PDF from this site:

 www.goosocean.org/voice-mbari-report