Award Abstract # 2148446
Physical Oceanography Dissertations Symposium XII and XIII

NSF Org: OCE
Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
Initial Amendment Date: March 8, 2022
Latest Amendment Date: March 28, 2024
Award Number: 2148446
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Baris Uz
bmuz@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4557
OCE
 Division Of Ocean Sciences
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: February 15, 2022
End Date: December 31, 2024 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $172,610.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $172,610.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2022 = $172,610.00
History of Investigator:
  • Glenn Carter (Principal Investigator)
    gscarter@hawaii.edu
  • Karen Selph (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Hawaii
2425 CAMPUS RD SINCLAIR RM 1
HONOLULU
HI  US  96822-2247
(808)956-7800
Sponsor Congressional District: 01
Primary Place of Performance: University of Hawaii at Manoa
1000 Pope Road
Honolulu
HI  US  96822-2319
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
01
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): NSCKLFSSABF2
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Primary Program Source: 01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 9150
Program Element Code(s): 161000
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT

This project funds the 12th Physical Oceanography Dissertation Symposium (PODS) conference in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii in October 2022. These symposia were established in 2002 to bring together, for the purposes of scientific discussion and interactions, recent PhD graduates in physical oceanography who represent their employing institutions. Once selected to be a participant at these meetings, these individuals will be required to present their dissertation research in front of their professional peers and to forge professional relationships between the participants that will facilitate their future research and academic careers at their employing institutions. This program is modeled after the highly successful Dissertations Symposium in Chemical Oceanography (DISCO) meetings, which were first held in 1978, and is formatted in a similar manner. It is anticipated that the PODS symposia will be held in parallel with the DISCO symposia. Support for the DISCO meetings is covered under a separate grant, but interactions between the two groups are an integral part of the goals of the proposed PODS symposia. The PODS symposia will produce a cohort group of early career professionals in the field of physical oceanography from widely differing backgrounds and geographical origins, serving to create a peer mentoring group that will last throughout their careers. In addition, the cross-disciplinary contacts arising from the combination of the PODS and DISCO meetings will foster future inter-disciplinary understanding and collaborations, benefitting their employing institutions. Thus, the PODS participants will be uniquely situated to take advantage of networking between individuals and groups, which is of great importance to foster advances in scientific knowledge and preparedness to meet upcoming environmental challenges. These PODS attendees play a critical role in improving our understanding of ocean and earth science processes, which provide the scientific framework vital for developing rational climate-related policies. In addition, as a minority institution, the University of Hawaii fosters interactions between traditionally under-represented groups and minorities. Planned meeting activities include interactions between meeting participants and students, particularly undergraduates in the Department of Oceanography?s Global Environmental Sciences program.

A broad international announcement of the PODS symposia will be made to physical oceanographers working at academic institutions in both the US and other countries to develop an applicant pool. From this pool, agency personnel will select invitees. The meeting will consist of a series of sessions grouped by research subject area that are chaired by selected invitees and will also include participant-led discussion periods. In addition to an initial presentation by an invited senior scientist in the field, there will also be presentations by, and discussion with, agency personnel explaining funding mechanisms and strategies. Participants will form breakout groups to discuss current issues in research, as well as obstacles and opportunities to career paths in the field, then provide feedback to agency personnel through formal presentations. By bringing the two separate symposia invitees together in evening discussion sessions revolving around specific topics, the goal is to broaden the disciplinary expertise of the participants, promote future collaborations, and to make connections between their research and the education of future generations of scientists. The funds in this project will cover meeting venue rentals, audio-visual support costs, as well as participant support related costs of air travel, hotel accommodation, and M&IE that are not provided as part of the symposium.

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.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

This award supported logistics for the twelfth Physical Oceanography Dissertation Symposium (PODS), which took place in October 2022. Although the submitted proposal, and hence award title, was for two symposia the scope of the funded award was reduced to a single meeting (PODS XII).

 The grant funds covered participant travel and on-site hotel and catering costs. The five-day PODS meetings bring together potential future leaders in physical oceanography. The 25 early-career invitees were selected by representatives of the federal agencies funding physical oceanographic from a pool of qualified applicants (note that to be qualified, applicants must obtain their doctoral degrees within a 2-year time frame and have completed research in a field relevant to physical oceanography). Selection criteria include the quality of their dissertation research and coverage of the topics within physical oceanography likely to be important in the coming decades.

Participants present their PhD research and participate in formal and informal gathering with the aim of developing future collaborations. The senior guest speaker was Dr. Allen Clarke from the Florida State University. PODS XII was conducted concurrently with an allied meeting for chemical oceanographers (Dissertations Symposium in Chemical Oceanography), enhancing cohort building between these groups, and providing a venue for formal and informal exchange of cutting edge-ocean research ideas. Participants hear about funding opportunities from program managers of federal funding agencies (NSF, NOAA, ONR, and NASA), which should benefit their employing institutions.

The intellectual merit of this activity in part lies in the process of sharing scientific results broadly within and between the field of study and allied fields.  The process of obtaining a PhD in ocean science necessitates focus on a problem that is narrow in scope, but to be a productive scientist and contribute effectively to society, new professionals must be exposed to a broader array of ideas and concepts, such as those studied by their peers in attendance at these meetings.  Broader impacts of such meetings, where young professionals interact with their peers from different universities and specializations, include exposing all participants to different viewpoints and research activities, which will help them be more effective in their own science and in community outreach activities.

The participants in the 2022 PODS meeting represented 16 different US institutions as either the university granting the doctoral degree or employer at the time of the symposium.

 


Last Modified: 05/01/2025
Modified by: Glenn Carter

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.

Print this page

Back to Top of page