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History 

With generous support from the Moore Family Foundation, an inaugural conference was held May 2001. The goal of the conference was to identify priorities in the study of marine biodiversity and conservation, announce the establishment of the Center, and solicit ideas for its future development. Invited participants and guests hailed from a diversity of disciplines and institutions from the social, physical and biological sciences, national and local academic institutions, national and international governmental institutions, NGO's, and industry.

Several themes emerged for which there was universal agreement.

  • First, this is the time to tackle problems affecting marine biodiversity, and SIO is an ideal institution to support these activities.

  • Second, the scale and the urgency of the problems require a bold approach in order to truly make a difference.

  • Third, the need for natural and social scientists to work side by side was acknowledged.

In conclusion, the participants viewed CMBC as a tremendous opportunity to make a difference in the study and conservation of marine biodiversity, by using good, interdisciplinary science as an essential tool to understand and conserve marine biodiversity, and by training the future (first) generation of scientists with broad expertise in marine biodiversity and conservation as well as effective communication skills


2002

  • Administrative Manager hired

  • Academic Administrator hired 50%

  • April 2002 Website launched

  • September 2002 "Marine Science, Law and Policy", a seminar course, was jointly developed and taught by SIO, the UCSD Department of Political Science, the UCSD Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, and the University of San Diego Law School. This is an example of the synergy made possible by the establishment of CMBC.

  • October 2002: Alfred P Sloan Foundation's Known, Unknown and Unknowble (KUU) program funded a series of three conferences on marine biodiversity.

  • November 2002: Science-Media workshop Scientists are from Mars, Journalists are from Venus

  • November 2002: Science-Media workshop Anatomy of an Outreach Effort

  • Science-media workshops provided in collaboration with Ocean Wilderness Network, California SeaGrant, and Seaweb/COMPASS (Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea)

  • December 2002: KUU 2002 Conference - Marine Biodiversity in the Present

2003

  • January 2003: Testing of Spatial Structure Models (TOSSM) workshop in collaboration with NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science Center and International Whaling Commission

  • April 2003: Environmentally Responsible Whale Watching" workshop in cooperation with the Oceans Blue Foundation

  • October 2003: National Science Foundation's (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Training (IGERT) award

  • for Marine Biodiversity: Understanding Threats and Providing Solutions

  • November 2003: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's - KUU 2003 - Marine Biodiversity in the Past

2004

  • February 2004: Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation program approved by the University of California February 2004: Six students admitted to the MAS program April 2004: Marine Science, Policy and Law, Seminar Course topic: Marine Turtles

  • April 2004: Cetacean Systematics Symposium and Workshop: Approaches in Genetics, Morphology and Behavior in cooperation with NOAA, Southwest Fisheries Science Center

  • May 2004: Public Forum - Are there new species of killer wales in the Antarctic?

  • July 2004: First official interdisciplinary course debut: An introduction to Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (SIO295/295L)

  • November 2004: Marine Science, Economics and Policy established as SIO Course number 286

2005

  • April 2005: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's - KUU 2005 - Marine Biodiversity in the Future

  • August 2005: Line Island research cruise begins

  • August 2005: CMBC hires Executive Director

2006 - five years of accomplishments
Education

  • 40 PhD students in the IGERT program with four graduates 13 graduates in the MAS program and 10 new MAS students currently registered

  • Created a 15 unit, 9 week interdisciplinary course (SIO295/295L) involving over 40 faculty during the summer session

  • Created a summer session at SIO

  • Created the 4 unit, Marine Science, Economics and Policy (SIO286) offered each fall and winter with a new topic and instructor.

  • CMBC students create Environmental Science and Policy group at SIO to promote integration of student research into the policy process

Research

  • Joined the Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium

  • Led the Line Islands Expedition

Communications

  • Partnership with Shifting Baselines

  • Partnership with World Wildlife Fund to Preserve Life in the Oceans

  • Sponsored a variety of special lectures/conferences/symposia/workshops

2007 - a time of change 

  • SIO appoints Dr. Jeremy Jackson Director of CMBC

  • Dr. Richard Norris is named Principal Investigator for the IGERT project and applied for renewal.

  • Line Island Research continues with an expedition to the Kingman Reef 

CMBC was established at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in May 2001 to meet the challenges of marine conservation.

 

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