USA
The United States National Committee (USNC) for the Census of Marine Life was established in 2002. The U.S. Committee contributes to the global goals of the CoML by working with the U.S. scientific community and appropriate national agencies and organizations to build a relevant national program that addresses U.S. science priorities and the gaps in our knowledge about marine biodiversity. As with all of the national and regional committees for CoML, the U.S. CoML program will contribute to the First Census in 2010, help to build a sustained, dynamic Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), and leave a legacy of increased public interest in the oceans and marine life and support for ongoing marine biodiversity research and monitoring in the United States. The U.S. CoML Program Office is located at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership in Washington DC.
Committee Chair: Andrew Rosenberg, University of New Hampshire
Dr. Rosenberg serves as Professor in the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire. Currently, Dr. Rosenberg is also a principal investigator of the CoML History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP) project. His prior roles include serving as Dean of the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture at the University of New Hampshire, member of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, Deputy Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Northeast Regional Administrator for NMFS for four years.
Program Office contact: Michael Feldman, Ocean Leadership
For more information, visit the U.S. National Committee website: www.coml.us.
Affiliated Projects in the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico Biodiversity Project (GoMx), led by John W. Tunnell, Jr. (Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, USA) and Darryl L. Felder (University of Louisiana-Layfayette, USA)
The U.S. also supports a Regional Node for the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS). It is hosted by the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) at the U.S. Geological Survey. Contact Mark Fornwall.
