365 



TOWARD NEW PARTNERSHIPS IN OCEAN SCIENCES 31 



cess between agency representatives and marine scientists in aca- 

 demic institutions. Some collaboration has already occurred; other 

 cooperative arrangements need to be developed. 



Partnerships between the academic community and the agen- 

 cies that fund ocean research can be improved in several ways. 

 One major improvement would be for the academic institutions 

 to make it career enhancing and attractive for scientists to serve 

 as short-term scientific officers (rotators) at federal agencies. There 

 is a perennial shortage of rotators at these agencies. Rotators 

 should be respected among their peers within the academic com- 

 munity, and assignments should be chosen carefully to benefit 

 both the government and the scientist. Also, scientists should be 

 rewarded for service on federal advisory panels and on commu- 

 nity-wide management groups such as the committees of the Ocean 

 Drilling Program. 



National Science Foundation 



The National Science Foundation was formed in 1950 to in- 

 crease the nation's base of scientific and engineering knowledge 

 and to strengthen its ability in research and education in all areas 

 of science and engineering. NSF supports fundamental, long-term, 

 merit-selected research in all the scientific and engineering disci- 

 plines, including oceanography. NSF maintains strong relation- 

 ships with academic scientists and is the major source of funding 

 for basic ocean research. 



NSF depends heavily on external scientists for program man- 

 agement, program review, individual peer review of proposals, and 

 review panel memberships. The Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE) 

 is the primary supporter of ocean science research within NSF, 

 v/ith specific programs for physical oceanography, chemical ocean- 

 ography, biological oceanography, marine geology and geophysics, 

 ocean technology, the Ocean Drilling Program, and a program to 

 support facilities for oceanography. Ocean science research is 

 also supported by the Division of Polar Programs, Division of 

 Atmospheric Sciences, Division of Earth Sciences, and Division of 

 Environmental Biology. 



OCE depends on its Advisory Committee on Ocean Sciences 

 (ACOS), which prepares long-range plans for the Division of Ocean 

 Sciences. These plans, prepared with input from the ocean sci- 

 ence community, identify needs and priorities for ocean science 

 research and research infrastructure. The past two plans were 

 reviewed by the Ocean Studies Board (OSB). A new strategic plan 



