Report of a review of the NSF ocean research section

Abstract

EVERY THREE YEARS a Committee of Visitors is formed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Committee on Geosciences to review the various aspects of NSF funding in the Directorate for Geosciences. This year a Committee of Visitors (subsequently referred to as the COV) was asked to provide oversight on the operations of the Ocean Sciences Research Section (OSRS) of the Division of Ocean Sciences at NSF for the period 1992-1994. Most of the data evaluated were for FY94. In particular the COV was asked to evaluate the Biological Oceanography (BO) Program, the Chemical Oceanography (CO) Program, the Marine Geology and Geophysics (MGG) Program, the Physical Oceanography (PO) Program, and the Oceanographic Technology and Interdisciplinary Coordination (OTIC) Program. The latter is a program formed since the last COV. In addition to technology development, it has responsibility for activities that cut across all four basic science areas, such as the Coastal Ocean Processes (COOP) initiative and the Arctic Systems Science (ARCSS) initiative. The program also has responsibility for some national and international community coordination and planning activities.