693 



7 



• Provide the fundamental concepts related to the beginning of life forms on earth, 



- via the use of manned and unmanned submersibles to study undersea volcanoes and 

 their concomitant life forms 



• Save hundreds of thousands of lives through forecasts of coastal hazards 

 (including tsunamis and hurricanes), 



- made possible through the exploitation of high performance computing, allowing 

 implementation of increasingly sophisticated, and accurate, models for forecasting 

 coastal dynamics 



• Establish a whole industry based upon commercially viable fish farms and 

 aquaculture facilities, 



- through improvements in understanding of the physiology and ecology of important 

 species, such as salmon and mussels 



• Locate and build oil platforms to maximize production and to survive the 

 extremes of the ocean environment. 



- as a consequence of new concepts in anti-fouling, ocean engineering, and seafloor 

 mapping/characterization 



But where do we go from here? The 7% investment of the past gave us outstanding 

 products. Clearly a stronger investment is needed for the broader set of challenges 

 before us in the next millenniuni. 



In 1992 the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council (NRC), recognizing 

 the need to revisit the status, roles and plans of the oceanographic commvmity, convened 

 several meetings and prepared their assessment. Their report, entitled "Oceanography 

 in the Next Decade: Building New Partnerships", has been a watershed event in the 

 direction of this community. The objectives of the study were to "document and discuss 

 important trends in the human, physical and fiscal resources available to ocean- 

 ographers, ...to present the best assessment of scientific opportunities during the coming 

 decade, ...and to provide a blueprint for more productive partnerships" (NRC, 1992). 



The report of the National Research CouncU is particularly timely in that it deals with 

 the redefinition of the oceanograpMc community in the context of society's changing 

 needs. In opening remarks launching the National Research Council's report its 

 Chairman, Dr. Frank Press, cited the marked changes taking place in this post-cold war 

 period which seem to cry for new approaches to partnerships in the oceanographic 

 scientific community. In fact, as he pointed out, "concerns about the ocean as a medium 

 for warfare as a threat to national security are decreasing while environmental problems 

 of the coastal zone and understanding how the ocean contiols climate are of increasing 

 importance." Further, he states that while "major advances in understanding the ocean 

 in the development of technologies for observing it have set the stage for much greater 

 research achievements," this comes at a time when "resources necessary to obtain this 

 understanding are increasingly scarce." Hence, the Ocean Studies Board thought it 

 important to undertake the study of where marine science foimd itself today and where 

 it needed to head tomorrow. 



