Working Groups

The challenges facing the world’s ocean are complex and intractable, at the intersection of the vast marine ecosystem and the health and economic well-being of billions of humans. The Center for Ocean Solutions believes that an important and effective method to find solutions is to convene some of the best minds across multiple disciplines in working groups focused on some of the most urgent issues. We currently have five working groups that synthesize the latest science and policy on pressing issues to identify critical knowledge gaps and to create a path for turning that information into policy actions. 

Topics COS working groups are addressing today include the rapid detection of marine pathogens, climate change and coral reefs, climate change and pelagic predators, coastal hypoxia, and social-ecological resilience in small-scale fisheries. With a diverse expertise from academia, federal and local government, and NGOs, these groups are uniquely able to assess threats to the oceans and develop knowledge-to-action plans.

Larry Crowder, COS Science Director

Larry catalyzes the working groups at COS with expertise earned through a number of interdisciplinary projects including as Principal Investigator for the South Atlantic Bight Recruitment Experiment (SABRE), OBIS SEAMAP (Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Animal Populations), and Project GLOBAL (Global Bycatch Assessment of Long-Lived Species). He has also directed and participated in a number of research, analysis and synthesis groups at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and for the National Research Council’s Ocean Studies Board.