USAP-DC

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are protected areas of seas, oceans, and estuaries. They need coordinated research and monitoring for informed management to fulfill their conservation potential. Coordination is challenging, however, often due to knowledge gaps caused by inadequate access to data and resources, compounded by insufficient communication between scientists and managers. This Research Coordinating Network (RCN) uses the world’s largest MPA in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as a model system to create an international interdisciplinary network supporting policy-relevant research and monitoring that could be implemented in other remote, large-scale international MPAs. The first 10-year review of the Ross Sea MPA in 2027 will present a critical opportunity to coordinate across science, policy, and other partner communities to ensure the 2027 review (and subsequent reviews) are well grounded in robust scientific data, analyses, and streamlined inputs into policy. Many Antarctic research, policy, and conservation groups exist, some are even already focused on the Ross Sea, but there is not yet a formalized framework for coordination. Hence, the need for an RCN which can formalize connections among policy, research, and other communities focused specifically on research and monitoring of the Ross Sea region MPA. The RCN also provides an example of how to bring together diverse interdisciplinary participants towards an effective, integrated science-policy collaboration. To fulfill their conservation potential and provide safeguards for biodiversity, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) need coordinated research and monitoring for informed management through effective evaluation of ecosystem dynamics. The Ross Sea MPA in Antarctica is the world’s largest MPA and the only one on the high seas. The Research Coordination Network (RCN) will connect three key components: (i) policy engagement, (ii) community partner engagement, and (iii) integrated science. The science component comprises three themes: data science and cyberinfrastructure; biophysical modeling; and observations that include monitoring and process studies. Guided by clear research questions across the three components, the RCN will lead to new knowledge about the barriers to science-policy engagement and strategies to overcome them; strategies for effectively engaging diverse community partners; and science needed to better understand the Ross Sea ecosystem structure and function, including strategies for international coordination. The three science themes inform understanding of the ecosystem, and thus, the potential efficacy of the Ross Sea region MPA. Data science and cyberinfrastructure provide essential structures for coordinated research. Biophysical modeling is critical for evaluating ecosystem metrics and can be illustrative for understanding changes in ecosystem structure and function. Observations and process studies are needed for addressing knowledge gaps and informing cyberinfrastructure tools and biophysical modeling efforts. The science integration component will advance knowledge while also advancing transformative interdisciplinary collaboration across data science, modeling, and observations. The RCN will build new connections and collaborations among scientists, policymakers and community partners, internationally and across disciplines, while integrating science and policy in novel ways. The RCN will operate through regular engagement across the network communities, including meetings and targeted activities with specific products and outcomes. The RCN increases diversity, science diplomacy, knowledge exchange, and conservation and five early- to mid-career researchers have leading roles. The contributions from this RCN will facilitate significant advances in the ability to understand high latitude marine ecosystems and how these systems respond to competing stressors, including climate change and fishing. Further, lessons learned through the RCN could offer guidance on how other large-scale international MPAs are monitored and assessed. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Person	Role
Brooks, Cassandra	Investigator and contact
Hofmann, Eileen
Ballard, Grant
Stammerjohn, Sharon
Pan, Boyang

Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems

Award # 2448649

USAP-2448649_1

RCN_Data_Management_Plan_2024.docx