SUPPORT OF US SCIENTIFIC PARTICIPATION IN THE NORTH PACIFIC MARINE SCIENCE ORGANIZATION (PICES)

This award provides partial funding for U.S. ocean scientists, particularly those in the academic research community, to participate in the activities of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). This organization was established in 1992 to promote and coordinate marine scientific research in order to advance knowledge of living marine resources, land-ocean and atmosphere-ocean interactions, ecosystem components and processes, resource usage, ocean response to global weather and climate change, and human impacts in the North Pacific. Members presently include Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United States. Participation by U.S. scientists in Annual Meetings, scientific committee working groups and workshops, will also be funded through this award. The availability of travel funds not only provides influence on the scientific planning for large scale international collaborations, but also provides the opportunity to entrain colleagues and graduate students into research collaborations, scientific sessions, and workshops. The scale of the North Pacific Ocean demands broad collaboration, and the intellectual merits of international collaboration leads to increased understanding of how diverse scientists address their research. Entrainment of young scientists from both the US and foreign countries into these collaborations represents one of the capacity building strategies of PICES, and one which has a broader impact on US science through appreciation of the diverse multicultural approaches to science. Funds have been add sufficient funds to this project to provide full travel support for young (