Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium

Each year, the U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences hosts the Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium. The symposium highlights NSF-supported scientists who are transforming ocean science and are at the frontiers of their field in addition to a panel of alumni from previous symposia. 

NSF hosts the virtual symposium in June each year to celebrate National Ocean Month and makes recordings available to the public when available. 

2024

The sixth annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium was held on June 24, 2024.

Speakers included (recordings below):

  • Andrew Babbin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Kristin Grimes, University of the Virgin Islands
  • Bärbel Hönisch, Columbia University
  • Joellen Russell, University of Arizona

Andrew Babbin: Marine biogeochemistry shapes climate at scales big and small
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation
Dr. Andrew Babbin is a newly tenured associate professor at MIT studying the ways in which microorganisms shape the chemistry of the oceans and climate. In his presentation, Dr. Babbin demonstrates how small particles permit anaerobic metabolism and the influence of microenvironments on marine biogeochemistry.
Kristin Grimes: Elevating Islanders in the Ocean Sciences
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation
Dr. Kristin Wilson Grimes leads the Growing Research, Restoration, Outreach, and Education U.S. Virgin Islands Mangroves Program at the University of the Virgin Islands, a land grant university and Historically Black College and University. In her presentation, Dr. Grimes outlines a roadmap for systematic STEM workforce development and retention in the U.S. Territories. Using five different federally-funded projects and intentional coalition-building strategies, Dr. Grimes showcases how coastal community partnerships integrate the physical and social sciences to implement collaborative solutions to challenges of impacted communities.
Bärbel Hönisch: The ocean record of atmospheric CO2 and seawater acidity
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation
Dr. Bärbel Hönisch is interested in the effect of global carbon cycle perturbations on climate and the oceans, in particular past variations of seawater acidity and its relation to atmospheric carbon dioxide. In this presentation, Dr. Hönisch documents past ocean acidification events and the value of proxy models to estimate uncertainties in our understanding of anthropogenic emissions’ impacts on natural processes that regulate environmental perturbations.
Joellen Russell: Climate and the Deep Blue Sea: BGC Floats, Super-computers and Satellites
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation
Dr. Joellen Russell is an oceanographer and climate scientist, a Distinguished Professor, and the Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair of Integrative Science, and Department Chair of Geosciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Russell’s research uses robot floats, supercomputers and satellites to observe and predict the ocean’s role in climate and the carbon cycle. In this presentation, Dr. Russell explores the impact of meta-data systems on understanding ocean and atmospheric carbon cycles, and how that translates to prediction systems for global climate strategies.

The alumni panel consisted of:

  • Noel Jackson, University of Kansas
  • Patrick Heimbach, University of Texas at Austin
  • Heidi Sosik, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 
  • Angelique White, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa


2023

The fifth annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium was held on June 22, 2024.

Speakers included:

  • Angelicque White, University of Hawai`i at Manoa
  • Heidi Sosik, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • Noel Bartlow Jackson, Kansas University 
  • Patrick Heimbach, University of Texas Austin

The alumni panel consisted of:

  • Amina Schartup, U.C. San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography 
  • Claudine Hauri, University of Alaska
  • Dan Okamoto, Florida State University 

5th Annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium
Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation

 

2022

The fourth annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium was held on June 15, 2022.

Speakers included:

  • Dr. Anela Choy (Asst. Prof; UCSD/Scripps) whose talk will be on “Food web linkages across the deep-sea water column”
  • Dr. Claudine Hauri (Asst. Prof; UAlaska Fairbanks) who will be speaking on “Ocean acidification research in Alaska: from seagliders to models” 
  • Dr. Dan Okamoto (Asst. Prof; Florida State University) will be presenting  “Addressing equity and climatic uncertainty in nearshore rocky reef ecosystems” and
  • Dr. Amina Schartup (Asst. Prof; UCSD Scripps) who will be presenting “The mercury cycle in an era of global change”.

The alumni panel consisted of:

  • Dr Tamara Pico
  • Dr Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño
  • Dr Nikki Traylor-Knowles

 

2021 

The third annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium was held on June 28.

Speakers included:

  • Dr Tamara Pico, who works on ice sheet and sea-level reconstructions on glacial timescales. 
  • Dr Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño, who studies the impacts of climate change on marine organism physiology and reproduction.
  • Dr Melissa Omand, who investigates nutrient and organic carbon fluxes in physical oceanography processes.
  • Dr Nikki Traylor-Knowles, who researches the impacts of climate change and other human-induced stressors on cnidarian immune systems.

The alumni panel consisted of:

  • Dr Hilary Palevsky, Boston College                            
  • Dr Jessica Tierney, University of Arizona                           
  • Dr Phil Bresnahan, University of North Carolina Wilmington

Click here to view the recording. 


2020

The second annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium was held on June 18 (no recoding).


2019 

The first annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium was held on-site for NSF staff on June 13 (no recording).

Speakers included:

  • Dr Randall Hughes, Northeastern University
  • Dr. Kakani Katija, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
  • Dr. Nicole Loveduski, University of Colorado, Boulder
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