Progress report for
Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON)
Achievement at a glance
The Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) continues to grow, now encompassing over 800 members from 105 countries.In September 2020, GOA-ON organised the Ocean Acidification Week, a virtual multi-day forum on ocean acidification research and initiatives. The event took place during the week originally scheduled for the 5th International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ocean Acidification Week maintained momentum around ocean acidification research, engaged the ocean acidification and broader oceanographic communities, and brought attention to the global efforts being conducted related to monitoring, research and capacity building and education. Each session of Ocean Acidification week was hosted by a GOA-ON regional hub and all are available to view on the GOA-ON YouTube Channel (link on goa-on.org).
Following the success of Ocean Acidification Week, GOA-ON has launched the GOA-ON Webinar Series with the goal to enable members to share their science with the broader community, create opportunities for collaboration, and foster a sense of community among GOA-ON members. These webinars are also available for viewing on the GOA-ON YouTube Channel.
GOA-ON continues to be engaged in ocean acidification education and training, together with its partners. The current pandemic has put in-person training on hold, but the network and its partners have been developing online tools and courses to continue with outreach. The Pier2Peer scientific mentoring programme linking senior researchers with early career scientists has continued to grow with 128 matches made to date. The GOA-ON in a Box kits, low-cost ocean acidification monitoring equipment developed by GOA-ON and its partners, have been donated by the Ocean Foundation to 17 labs donated, benefiting scientists in 12 different countries. Several of the researchers who received the kits and training have contributed to the SDG 14.3.1 Indicator under the custodianship of IOC-UNESCO.
Challenges faced in implementation
The COVID-19 pandemic has halted in-person meetings and trainings, complicating the efforts in capacity building and scientific exchange in the ocean acidification community. The GOA-ON network has moved some of these efforts online, organising and hosting virtual meetings and workshops. There may be a payoff to this situation, as more and more online trainings become available to a wider audience than can assemble in person.The pandemic has again highlighted the dependence of the global ocean acidification community on Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) required for reliable carbonate chemistry measurements. The difficulty of obtaining CRMs has been identified as an issue before now, with many countries struggling to pay for and access the CRMs. Together with its partners, GOA-ON is committed to finding solutions and facilitating access to CRMs for the global ocean acidification community.
Lack of funding for GOA-ON and its network remains a challenge. Researchers in many locations are still unable to reliably measure changes in carbonate chemistry. Training and infrastructure for ocean acidification observations are crucial to understand the drivers of ocean acidification in estuarine-coastal-open ocean environments, the resulting impacts on marine ecosystems, and to make the information available to optimize modelling studies and to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Beneficiaries
GOA-ON benefits the scientific community by providing various resources, including Best Practices guides, mentoring of early career researchers, outreach and training, as well as links to other relevant resources useful to scientists, policy-makers, stakeholders, and the general public. The network provides key input to communities, industry and governments seeking to develop action plans and mitigation or adaptation strategies to address ocean acidification impacts.
GOA-ON was involved in the development of the SDG 14.3.1 Indicator methodology, which provides the necessary guidance on how to conduct ocean acidification observation, what to measure and how, providing best practice and methods approved by the scientific ocean acidification community to ensure the production of quality controlled global and possibly regional products. Background information on the United Nations 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, links to the SDG 14.3.1 methodology, the associated data files for reporting of the data to IOC-UNESCO, and the link to the SDG 14.3.1 Data Portal are featured on the GOA-ON Website.
Actions
GOA-ON continues to support its growing membership with a particular focus on early career scientists through its scientific mentorship program Pier2Peer. GOA-ON hopes to use the GOA-ON Webinar series to give a platform to early career scientists, like Pier2Peer mentees, and other members of the GOA-ON research community who wish to share their science with a broader audience.GOA-ON and its partners have developed manuals and Standards of Best Practice for the GOA-ON in a Box kits. Additionally, GOA-ON in a Box Instructional Videos are available on the GOA-ON website in four languages: English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.