SCIENCE, MONITORING & STAKEHOLDER
WORKSHOPS
SOCAN hosts workshops throughout the U.S. Southeast to synthesize and prioritize acidification science and monitoring, promote sharing of information, and enhance collaboration.
2021 Virtual
STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP
Coastal communities across the Southeast could be vulnerable to acidification from one or more aspects: social, environmental, or lack of monitoring. The Interagency Working Group On Acidification (IWG-OA) has been charged with assessing vulnerability of coastal communities across the USA by 1) assessing the gaps in monitoring and research that are needed to better characterize the exposure of regions to acidification and the biological response and 2) characterizing the social vulnerability resulting from impacts to marine resources, and the sensitivity and adaptive capacity of social and economic systems. Vulnerability has been defined as an organism’s, system’s, and/or human exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to an environmental or anthropogenic stressor.
NORTH CAROLINA
STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP
Image credit: Baxter Miller
The Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN), in conjunction with North Carolina Sea Grant and the Ocean Conservancy, held a one-day acidification stakeholder workshop in Morehead City, NC on October 27, 2017. Ocean and coastal acidification are changing the chemistry of seawater with potential effects for economically important marine life and coastal communities. Land-use change, runoff pollution and a vibrant shellfish industry render North Carolina among the most socioeconomically vulnerable states to future acidification impacts. An understanding of these factors can lead to the development of the tools necessary for coastal industries and ecosystems to mitigate and adapt to these changes.
GEORGIA/SOUTH CAROLINA
STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP
On July 27, 2018 SOCAN & the Ocean Conservancy facilitated the first public conversation about water quality, acidification and what it means for stakeholders in South Carolina and Georgia.
The one-day workshop at the South Carolina Aquarium served as a forum for coastal acidification discussion. Shellfish operators, scientists, and resource managers joined the conversation to discuss the changes they've seen in water quality and coastal resources.
Image credit: Jay Styron
MONITORING WORKSHOP
The Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN) held a workshop in Charleston, South Carolina to facilitate discussion on priority locations for ocean acidification monitoring in the Southeast. The discussion included identification of key gradients in physical, chemical and biological parameters along the Southeast coast, a review of current monitoring efforts, and an assessment of stakeholder needs. Sixteen monitoring locations were identified as potential acidification monitoring locations.
STATE OF THE SCIENCE WORKSHOP
On January 12 and 13, 2016 the SOCAN Steering Committee with invited scientific experts held a meeting at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina to discuss the state of ocean and coastal acidification science, priorities and vulnerabilities in the Southeast region. The meeting sought to accomplish three objectives:
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Summarize key findings, prioritize research needs, and identify research and laboratory capabilities to address ocean and coastal acidification research questions;
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Identify unique aspects of the Southeast region and factors underlying its vulnerability to OA; and
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Identify relevant stakeholders in the region to discuss their concerns related to ocean and coastal acidification.
