Every day, society makes decisions about the ocean and its resources, often involving challenging circumstances, competing interests, and drivers that occur far away from the ocean. Now is an opportune time to examine, as an ocean Nation, what ocean research, technologies, innovations, and education and workforce development are needed to tackle local, regional, national, and global challenges.

With substantial community input, the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, under the National Science and Technology Council, is initiating development of a 10-year ocean research plan (tentatively titled “Ocean Research in the Coming Decade” and hereafter, “the Plan”). The Plan will describe the most pressing research questions and most promising areas of opportunity within the ocean science and technology enterprise for the coming decade. It will set the stage for agency-specific and interagency coordinated actions across Federal agencies and with other ocean sectors to address societal needs and issues of national importance.  

This new Plan will apply lessons learned from and replace Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States for the Next Decade: An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy which was initially developed in 2007 and refreshed in 2013.

This webpage will remain active throughout the entire Plan development process, and will provide the following:

• General Plan Information
• Plan Prospectus
• Plan Development Process and Anticipated Timeline
• Opportunities for Providing Input
• Community Engagement Event Details
• Contact Email Address