Researchers gather in Georgia Tech on April 1-4, 2019, for OceanVisions 2019 – Climate to discuss solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing ocean health.

The summit is the first public event of Ocean Visions, a consortium of leading institutions involved in ocean research and science. The consortium’s nine founding partners, including Georgia Tech, joined forces to collaborate on scientifically sound, scalable, impactful, and viable ocean conservation solutions.

At the meeting, the first Ocean Visions Tethys Award will be presented to Jane Lubchenco, former director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Distinguished University Professor at Oregon State University. The award is named after the Greek goddess of water; it honors role models who contributed to, promoted, enabled, or raised awareness about ocean solutions and who inspire new generations of ocean experts and leaders.

"The ocean is our past and our future. Healthy people, healthy communities, and healthy economies depend directly on a healthy ocean."

“The ocean is our past and our future. Healthy people, healthy communities, and healthy economies depend directly on a healthy ocean,” Jane Lubchenco says. “Ocean Visions is a pioneering endeavor that is committed to delivering comprehensive, science-led solutions to the ocean’s many challenges – solutions that are scalable at a global level. That has never been done before.”

Lubchenco’s Tethys Award lecture will be live streamed on April 1.

"Addressing the challenges facing our oceans will take an ambitious effort that brings together the best talent in our nation."

“Addressing the challenges facing our oceans will take an ambitious effort that brings together the best talent in our nation,” says G. Wayne Clough, secretary emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution and president emeritus of Georgia Tech. Clough will open the summit and introduce the consortium.

“Ocean Visions provides much-needed optimism for the future of our oceans,” says Emanuele Di Lorenzo, director of the Georgia Tech Ocean Science & Engineering Program. A professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Di Lorenzo leads the host team at Georgia Tech.

The Ocean Visions consortium consists of Georgia Tech, Smithsonian Institution, Stanford University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography University of Georgia, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Georgia Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Birch Aquarium at Scripps.