Ocean Protection Council Science Advisory Team

The Ocean Protection Council’s (OPC) Five-year Strategic Plan, A Vision for Our Ocean and Coast highlights the need to improve scientific understanding of our ocean and coastal ecosystems and fulfill the California Ocean Protection Act (COPA) mandate. These documents outline the critical importance of integrating ocean and coastal science with management. In February 2007, the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) formally designated the Executive Director of the California Ocean Science Trust (OST) to act as Science Adviser to the OPC and co-chair of the OPC Science Advisory Team (OPC-SAT).

The goal of the OPC-SAT is to ensure that the best available science is applied to OPC policy decisions. Establishing the OPC-SAT builds on recommendations by California’s Ocean Action Strategy and both the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy to change the way oceans are managed. Through its highly multidisciplinary membership, the OPC-SAT enables the OPC to have the foresight to tackle a diversity of issues – such as ocean acidification, disaster scenario planning, and the environmental effects of wave energy and desalination facilities – as they emerge. As a well-respected, diverse, and independent team of scientists, the OPC-SAT lends credibility to the scientific information the OPC uses to inform and guide its decisions – a valuable factor given the complexity and controversy that often surrounds issues in ocean and coastal management.

Primary Tasks

OPC-SAT members may be called upon to:

• Develop recommendations on scientific issues identified by the OPC;
• Respond to information requests from the OPC;
• Evaluate the technical merit of scientific and technical projects proposed to the OPC;
• Provide technical advice on OPC agenda items and reports;
• Participate in technical working groups and scientific forums to address critical management problems;
• Assist in ranking and refining annual research priorities; and,
• Identify critical emerging science issues that should be of concern to the OPC and the state.

Please visit OPC-SAT Accomplishments for more information related to the OPC-SAT's activities and achievements.

OPC-SAT Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is the leadership body of the OPC-SAT. The Executive Committee is composed of the OPC Science Advisor, the OPC-SAT co-chair, the co-chair elect, and the co-chair emeritus. This group will lead the activities of the OPC-SAT, provide continuity of leadership, maintain institutional knowledge, and ensure that information is shared among OPC-SAT members. The 2010 members of the Executive Committee are Skyli McAfee (OPC Science Advisor), Gary Griggs (OPC-SAT co-chair), Alexandria Boehm (co-chair elect), and Richard Ambrose (co-chair emeritus). 

OPC-SAT Meetings

The OPC-SAT has had two annual in person-meetings. The first meeting was held on September 10, 2008 in Half Moon Bay and the second meeting was held December 1, 2009 in La Jolla at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The September 2008 meeting served as an important introduction for the team members to the goals and purpose of the OPC and the OPC-SAT.  The main topics of the meeting included Research Priority Descriptions for the OPC Focused Research and Outreach Initiative portion of the 2009 California Sea Grant Call for Proposals, and a discussion of emerging issues the group agreed  the OPC should consider and take action on.

The December 2009 meeting in La Jolla provided an opportunity for the OPC-SAT to reflect upon their activities and outcomes over the past year and identify their desired impact and role moving forward. Topics addressed included: increased communication and integration with the OPC, mechanisms for the group to play a more proactive role in providing scientific advice and recommendations to the OPC, developing position/consensus statements, and identifying emerging issues.

Please see the September 2008 Meeting Minutes and December 2009 Meeting Minutes for more details on these meetings.

The next OPC-SAT meeting will be held on July 20, 2010 in Oakland, CA.

OPC-SAT Members

Biographical Sketches for Science Advisory Team Members

Richard F. Ambrose, (co-chair emeritus) Professor/Director
University of California, Los Angeles/Environmental Science and
Engineering

Alexandria B. Boehm, (co-chair elect) Associate Professor
Stanford University

Mark Carr, Professor
University of California, Santa Cruz

Daniel R. Cayan, Meteorologist
Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Francisco Chavez, Senior Scientist
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Kenneth Coale, Director
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University

Christopher Costello, Associate Professor
University of California, Santa Barbara

John Field, Fisheries Scientist
NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center

Steve Gaines, Professor/Director
University of California, Santa Barbara/Marine Science Institute

Gary Griggs, (co-chair) Professor/Director
University of California, Santa Cruz/Institute of Marine Sciences

Frances Gulland, Director of Veterinary Science
The Marine Mammal Center

Madeleine Hall-Arber, Professor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tony Haymet, Director/Vice Chancellor
Scripps Institution of Oceanography/University of California, San Diego

Sam Johnson, Research Geologist
U.S. Geological Survey

Karen McLeod, Director of Science
Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea, Oregon State University

Mark Moline, Associate Professor
California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo

Steven N. Murray, Professor/Dean
California State University Fullerton/College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Karina J. Nielsen, Assistant Professor
Sonoma State University

Jeffrey D. Paduan, Associate Professor
Naval Postgraduate School

Harry N. Scheiber, Professor
University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law

Jerry Schubel, President and CEO
Aquarium of the Pacific

John J. Stachowicz, Associate Professor
University of California, Davis

William Sydeman, President
Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research

Stephen Weisberg, Executive Director
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project