Ocean Forum 1: Surfing the ocean data tsunami together: Insights from space to the deep sea.
Astronaut/Aquanaut Kathy Sullivan and Mark Abbott, President and Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
We collect more data from the ocean than ever before. Scientists use tools ranging from buoys and water samples to real-time satellite imagery. Thanks to phone apps and technology, even citizens can collect vital information and share it – adding more layers to the already crowded data landscape. How can we keep up? How can we use this wave of data most effectively? Are we managing the data or is it managing us? The future of ocean research will depend on training the next generation to make sense of the data tsunami in a race against the clock with global warming and other pressures on the ocean.
Leaders from the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) and the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE) lead this discussion - the first in a provocative online discussion series. OFI Scientific Director Anya Waite, OFI Associate Scientific Director Paul Snelgrove and COVE’s CEO Jim Hanlon all took part.
Astronaut/Aquanaut Kathy Sullivan and Mark Abbott, Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) were the first guests.
In 1984, Dr. Sullivan was the first woman to complete a spacewalk, and this spring became the first woman to travel eleven kilometres to reach the lowest known point in the ocean. Both adventures support her lifelong passion to understand the world around her. She served as US Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Over his 35-year career, Dr. Abbott has led oceanography in new directions through his role as an academic leader, and has served on numerous professional committees for federal science funding agencies, scientific societies, and laboratories. He has advised the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation on ocean information infrastructure.
Watch the event here: https://youtu.be/HF6O0re2xeA
