Third Symposium on The Ocean in a High-CO2 World

A consortium of institutions and organizations from Monterey, California will host the third symposium on The Ocean in a High-CO2 World on 21-24 September 2012. Like the first two symposia in this series, the Monterrey symposium is expected to attract many of the world’s leading ocean scientists to discuss the impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms, ecosystems, and biogeochemical cycles, as well as social and economic consequences of ocean acidification.  The first three days of the symposium will feature plenary, parallel, and poster sessions that will provide an opportunity for presentations of the latest scientific results and discussions of the state of research in ocean acidification. The fourth day will focus on the policy implications of ocean acidification, starting with a summary of the scientific presentations and continuing with panels of eminent policymakers who will comment on how the science of ocean acidification is impacting policy at national and international levels.

The symposium will cover 16 topics.  Ten of the topics will be introduced by plenary presentations and an additional 6 topics will be handled only in parallel sessions. As of now, each of the 16 topics will have its own parallel session, although some topics eventually may be combined, depending on the number of abstracts submitted for each topic. Abstracts may be submitted for any of these 16 topics:

PLENARY PRESENTATION TOPICS

Opening: The history of ocean acidification science

Peter Brewer (United States)
1.     Changes in ocean carbonate chemistry since the Industrial Revolution

Richard Zeebe (United States)
2.     Rates of change of ocean acidification: Insights from the paleorecord

Daniela Schmidt (United Kingdom)
3.     Interactions of ocean acidification with physical climate change

Laurent Bopp (France)
4.     Responses of marine organisms and ecosystems to multiple environmental stressors (ocean acidification, hypoxia,     temperature, UV, etc.)

Hans-Otto Poertner (Germany)
5.     Acclimation  and adaption to ocean acidification: Genomics, physiology, and behavior

Gretchen Hofmann (United States)
6.     Ecosystem change and resilience in response to ocean acidification

Steve Widdicombe (United Kingdom)
7.     Biogeochemical consequences of ocean acidification and feedbacks to the Earth system

Richard Matear (Australia)
8.     Understanding the economics of ocean acidification

Luke Brander (Hong Kong, China)
9.     Policy and governance in the context of ocean acidification: Implications, solutions, and barriers

Victor Galaz (Sweden)
10.  Impacts of ocean acidification on food webs and fisheries

Beth Fulton (Australia)

PARALLEL PRESENTATION TOPICS

A.    Detection and attribution of ocean acidification changes

B.    Effects of ocean acidification on nutrient and metal speciation

C.    New developments in measuring and observing ocean acidification and its effects

D.    Regional impacts of ocean acidification

E.    Effects of ocean acidification on calcifying organisms

F.    New concerns in ocean acidification research

Symposium organizers are planning special networking activities for early-career scientists and will offer mentoring opportunities for those who request a mentor. Special travel support will be available for early-career scientists and scientists from developing countries and countries with economies in transition (see http://www.scor-int.org/Eligible_Countries.pdf). Travel grants for early-career scientists will be limited to applicants who are Ph.D. students and individuals who have received their Ph.D.s within 5 years of the beginning of the symposium. A small number of travel grants will be available for scientists from developing countries who are more than 5 years beyond their Ph.D.s. Registration fees will be waived for travel grant recipients.

Application Process for Travel Grants—Applications for travel support will consist of three parts: (1) an abstract to present a poster or an oral presentation in a parallel session, (2) a letter expressing the applicant’s research interests and interest in participating in the symposium, and (3) a supporting letter from the applicant’s adviser, supervisor, or organization official. Award of travel support will depend on the abstract being accepted. Application materials should be submitted to the SCOR Secretariat (secretariat at scor-int.org) by the abstract deadline, 1 April 2012. Applicants will receive notice of the outcome of their applications by 31 May 2012.

The Third Symposium on The Ocean in a High-CO2 World is convened by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and the International Geosphere – Biosphere Program