OOI board openings posted

The Ocean Observatories Initiative is looking for two new members for its Facility Board, with terms starting June 1, 2026. (oceanobservatories.org) The call was posted April 14 by the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a National Science Foundation-funded ocean observing network. The board represents scientists and other users of the facility and advises the foundation on management and operations. (oceanobservatories.org, oceanobservatories.org) The two openings run through May 31, 2029, and selected members can be considered for additional three-year terms. The board said it wants applicants from the science community and from people who use Ocean Observatories Initiative data and services. (oceanobservatories.org) The board sits over a facility that streams open-access ocean data from more than 900 instruments across five arrays. Those arrays include two global arrays, two coastal arrays, and one cabled array. (oceanobservatories.org) The Ocean Observatories Initiative says its data are free to anyone online and are used for research on ocean health, climate variability, marine biodiversity, and other long-running ocean changes. The board’s job includes expanding scientific and public awareness of that system and keeping the oceanographic community informed about developments. (oceanobservatories.org, oceanobservatories.org, oceanobservatories.org) The openings come during a year when the project has also been updating the community on its operating status under an adjusted plan tied to the still-unfinished fiscal 2026 federal appropriations process. The initiative said in February that it had worked with the National Science Foundation and array principal investigators on that plan earlier in the winter. (oceanobservatories.org) The board is one of several oversight groups around the facility. A separate Science Oversight Committee includes principal investigators from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Oregon State University, the University of Washington, and Rutgers University, while a Data Systems Committee focuses on data access and quality. (oceanobservatories.org, oceanobservatories.org) The Ocean Observatories Initiative says it operates 80 platforms, has generated more than 200 billion rows of data, and has supported 503 peer-reviewed articles as of its October 2025 “By the Numbers” update. The next board members will step into that system as the facility continues recruiting users and outside oversight. (oceanobservatories.org, oceanobservatories.org)