366 



32 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE NEXT DECADE 



for ocean sciences is being prepared by ACOS, and OSB is ex- 

 pected to be involved. 



The Ocean Studies Board (in conjunction v^ith the NRC Board 

 on Earth Sciences and Resources) reviewed the Ocean Drilling 

 Program Long-Range Plan. NSF also depends on outside groups 

 for program and facility management. For example, the Ocean 

 Drilling Program receives advice from the Joint Oceanographic 

 Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling, an international consortium 

 with advisory groups of scientists from the academic community. 



The present partnership is basically healthy, and the contin- 

 ued vigor of marine science will depend more than ever on NSF 

 leadership in maintaining the fundamental science. Numerous 

 aspects of the partnership require constant attention: the need for 

 NSF to broker interagency funding for basic science as its own 

 resources are outstripped; the balance between organized scien- 

 tific efforts and individual investigator, independent grants; and 

 determination of the proper balance among disciplines. 



Department of the Navy 



The Office of Naval Research has enjoyed a healthy partner- 

 ship with the academic oceanographic community since its incep- 

 tion. Specifically, ONR funded basic academic research and was 

 largely responsible for the early development and maintenance of 

 oceanography. The academic partnership with ONR has been in- 

 tellectual as well as financial. ONR depends on external scien- 

 tists to review its programs through site and program-level re- 

 views and to help develop its science programs through topical 

 workshops. ONR also receives academic advice on program op- 

 portunities from the Naval Studies Board and Marine Board of the 

 NRC and the Navy Committee of the Ocean Studies Board. Addi- 

 tional academic input is gained from rotators who come to ONR 

 from the academic community for a few years and then return to 

 academia. ONR's support of academic ship operations has de- 

 clined in the past few years, which has led to questions about its 

 balance of field and theoretical programs. A joint ONR-academic 

 study of this balance would be useful. 



With the end of the Cold War, the focus of Navy-funded re- 

 search is almost surely going to shift, along with the general level 

 and direction of Defense Department funding. For example, it has 

 been suggested that the recent war in the Persian Gulf implies a 

 greater focus on nearshore problems. However, the Navy, along 

 with NSF, has been the backbone of the U.S. commitment to 



