Our Work
Ocean Issues We Address
The Center for Ocean Solutions' work concentrates on three focal areas that we have identified as critical to solving the key challenges facing the ocean.
Ocean Issues
Issues Overview
The Center for Ocean Solutions work concentrates on three focal areas that we have identified as critical to solving the key challenges facing the ocean. These focal areas include: Climate Change, Ecosystem Health and Land-Sea Interactions. Each is inextricably linked to the other, and our work in one area informs and advances our work in other areas.
Our approaches for implementing solutions across the focal areas fall into four ‘solution spaces’ that help us bridge the gap between research and decision-making communities. These solution spaces cross and intersect with our focal areas, and each of our projects tackles several of these solution spaces simultaneously, linking knowledge to action using a spectrum of approaches.
Our solution spaces include:
- Developing innovative concepts and tools for measuring ocean ecosystem health
- Advancing research, knowledge, and capacity of integrated human-natural systems
- Fostering integrated ocean policy and management
- Enhancing capacity and leadership in ocean science and governance
Ocean Issues
Climate Change
Through its work on climate change, the Center for Ocean Solutions seeks to develop innovative solutions to enhance ecosystem and human community resiliency to climate change impacts. We also seek to improve the policies governing climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Center develops and executes research, education and communication strategies to achieve these goals.
- Projects: Climate Change covers a broad range of projects that link knowledge to action.
- Working Groups: The Center for Ocean Solutions believes that an important and effective method to find solutions is to convene some of the best minds across multiple disciplines in working groups. Three of our working groups fall under the Climate Change focal area.
- Literature: Climate Change focal area projects and working groups have produced a suite of reports and related publications.
Ocean Issues
Ecosystem Health
Ocean ecosystems are “healthy” if they can supply ecosystem goods and services to coastal societies and sustain marine life without compromising their fundamental structure and functioning. The Center shapes its work on ocean ecosystem health around a series of cross-cutting issues at the forefront of dialogues about ocean sustainability.
- Projects: Ecosystem Health covers a broad range of projects that link knowledge to action.
- Working Groups: The Center for Ocean Solutions believes that an important and effective method to find solutions is to convene some of the best minds across multiple disciplines in working groups. Four of our working groups fall under the Ecosystem Health focal area.
- Literature: The Ecosystem Health focal area projects and working groups have produced a suite of reports and related publications.
Ocean Issues
Land-Sea Interactions
The coastal ocean represents the major interface between humans and the marine environment, making coastal ecosystems those most heavily impacted by human activity. These coastal habitats provide many important services such as sheltering diverse marine organisms, buffering terrestrial habitats from wave action and flooding and supporting recreation and tourism. Human impacts on the coastal environment include fishing pressure, industrial pollution, habitat modification and agricultural runoff. The Center for Ocean Solutions is taking an interdisciplinary approach to identifying and resolving these challenges.
- Projects: Land-Sea Interactions covers a broad range of projects that link knowledge to action.
- Working Groups: The Center for Ocean Solutions believes that an important and effective method to find solutions is to convene some of the best minds across multiple disciplines in working groups. One of our working groups falls under the Land-Sea interactions focal area.
- Literature: The Land-Sea Interactions focal area projects and working group have produced a suite of reports and related publications.