“Conducting relevant science to inform sound marine policy”
Mission
The mission of the IAME is to develop clear linkages between ecological phenomena and potential and realized management regimes along the California coast, across the US, and throughout the world. Using cutting-edge technology, the goal of the IAME is to provide insight, to reorganize thinking, and to improve paradigms for understanding the interaction of marine ecological systems and human activities.
Diver swapping our acoustic receiver at Anacapa Island off the coast of southern California.
Students and Faculty from the IAME returning to San Francisco after a research cruise to the Farallon Islands and Cordell Bank.
Motivation
The desire for sound marine policy is clearly increasing, evidenced in California by the recent efforts at bolstering the implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs), and at the national level by an increasing emphasis across Federal agencies on ecosystem-based management. However, major challenges persist, including:
A significant disconnect between much of the science conducted by academia and the actual needs of those responsible for management and policy development. The explanations for this disconnect are numerous and can be attributed to both academia and to government agencies. Well-intentioned academic efforts often fall short in addressing specific government needs due to a fundamental lack of understanding as to how the government functions and what its precise needs are. Government agencies, in turn, responding to the exigencies of management, are often compelled to act without communicating with academic scientists to determine precisely what data are available or needed.
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Insufficient financial support from either State or Federal agencies directed towards conducting the critical science necessary to underlie major policy initiatives (recent events in California notwithstanding). These unfunded mandates undermine the success of the initiatives and ultimately the marine environment loses.
Scientists at the IAME conduct research across a broad spectrum of applied ecological questions. Specifically, scientists are either currently conducting, or will shortly be engaged in, the following research projects, each of which has a direct link to ocean policy:
