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To meet the challenges of marine conservation, the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (CMBC) was established at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in May 2001. Its goals are:

  • Investigation: Assess the state of marine ecosystems now and in the past and develop predictive models for the future
  • Education: Train new marine biodiversity and conservation scientists in the United States and around the world
  • Integration: Develop novel interdisciplinary approaches linking the biological, physical, social and informatic sciences
  • Communication: Increase public understanding of scientific issues and provide sound scientific analyses to policy makers
  • Application: Design technically sophisticated, regionally appropriate strategies to prevent and reverse biodiversity collapse

Dr. Lisa Levin, Director
http://cmbc.ucsd.edu
cmbc@ucsd.edu

Cover page of The future of marine biodiversity: The Known Unknown and Unknowable

The future of marine biodiversity: The Known Unknown and Unknowable

(2005)

The reports on the third in a series of conferences funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's, Known, Unknown and Unknowable program. The purpose of the conference was to explore two main aspects of marine biodiversity in the near (2020) future: (a) projections on anthropogenic drivers and (b)projections on impacts on marine biodiversity.

Cover page of Marine Biodiversity:  Using the Past to Inform the Future

Marine Biodiversity: Using the Past to Inform the Future

(2003)

This report covers the second conference supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Known, Unknown and Unknowable Program. The conference goal is to explore the structure and limits to knowledge of marine ecosystems and implications of the state of our knowledge to research, policy and society at large.

This conference highlighted the importance of understanding past ecosystems and how they have changed, and asked how we can make use of this historical perspective to better understand the present and to safeguard and manage to future.

Cover page of Conference Report: Marine Biodiversity in the Present:The Known, Unknown and Unknowable

Conference Report: Marine Biodiversity in the Present:The Known, Unknown and Unknowable

(2002)

Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's, Known, Unknown and Unknowable project. This is the first in a series of three conferences held at Scripps Institution of Oceanography to explore the structure and knowledge of marine systems. The report describes how the conference was organized and the results of the conference.

Cover page of Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation  Conference Report - May, 2001

Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Conference Report - May, 2001

(2001)

The opening conference to launch the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (CMBC) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) was held 25-27 May 2001. The goal of the conference was to identify priorities in the study of marine biodiversity and conservation, announce the establishment of the Center, and solicit ideas for its future development. Invited participants and guests hailed from a diversity of disciplines and institutions from the social, physical and biological sciences, national and local academic institutions, national and international governmental institutions, NGO's, and industry. The agenda featured plenary addresses, which were open to the public, followed by a graduate student poster session and four panel discussions. We asked all participants to be their most challenging and provocative.

Several themes emerged from the conference for which there was universal agreement. First, this is the time to tackle problems affecting marine biodiversity, and SIO is an ideal institution to support these activities. Second, the scale and the urgency of the problems require a bold approach in order to truly make a difference. Third, the need for natural and social scientists to work side by side was a recurrent message. Many participants urged CMBC to go beyond classic marine science curricula and incorporate law, policy, socioeconomics, and communication courses. Such a graduate program is not offered in any academic institution worldwide, and CMBC was urged to establish that kind of program as soon as possible.

In conclusion, the participants viewed CMBC as a tremendous opportunity to make a difference in the study and conservation of marine biodiversity, by using good, interdisciplinary science as an essential tool to understand and conserve marine biodiversity, and by training the future (first) generation of scientists with broad expertise in marine biodiversity and conservation as well as effective communication skills.