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Introduction 



The United States is an island nation whose history and future have depended upon 

 and will continue to depend upon our leadership in understanding the factors 

 controlling our envirortment. The environment is where we live, where we get our 

 resources to live, and where we earn our keep. Our environment is controlled by the 

 world's oceans. The oceanographic community owns skills which help define our 

 nation's continued role as an international leader in the science of the oceans. 



The majority of our coiantry's states, 60%, have coastlines on the ocean or Great Lakes. 

 Half of our population lives within the coastal zone. One out of every 6 jobs in the 

 United States is marine-related. Yet less than 4% of the Federal basic research budget is 

 spent on ocean sciences. 



While the ocean sciences community is small (less than 2,500 Ph.D. level 

 oceanographers are employed in US academia, government and the private sector ; 

 NSF, 1991), the cadre of professionals in the field represents a wide spectrum of skills, 

 from molecular biology to fluid dynamics to cybernetics to organic chemistry. The 

 strength of this community has been based on two factors: its recognition of national 

 research imperatives, and its capability to work cooperatively on scientific problems. In 

 the chapters that follow there are examples of the well-coordinated efforts to transcend 

 disciplinary and institutional boundaries. 



The fact is, however, that the Uruted States faces a new set of challenges in the next 

 decade. These challenges demand all of the resources and capabilities of the ocean 

 sciences community ... and then some! In the sectors of economic development, quality 

 of Ufe, national security and education the demands on society are being heard. Driving 

 these demands are changes in global geopolitics, military requirements, technological 

 capabilities, economic competition, international demographics and resource utilization. 

 Recognizing the need to define general goals and in response to calls from the Ocean 

 Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences, the oceanographic community is 

 drawing up the plans for addressing the new challenges. This document serves as a 

 statement of the opportunities for partnerships in the future of oceanography in the 

 next decade. With this statement, the community of ocean scientists is now poised to 

 work toward meeting an even larger set of societal needs. 



