Research Themes

CICOES and NOAA researchers represent a wide range of scientific expertise under 9 major research themes.

Aquaculture science for sustainability into the future

Research under this theme is broadly focused on the development of sustainable marine aquaculture to support the commercial aquaculture industry and restoration of native species. This includes multidisciplinary approaches to the development of aquaculture techniques for marine organisms (e.g. fish, shellfish and macroalgae) to optimize production and minimize negative ecosystem impacts of aquaculture in the marine environment. This work includes:

Photo courtesy Blue Evolution

Climate and ocean variability, change, and impacts

Research conducted under this theme is focused on understanding oceanic and atmospheric processes associated with global and regional climate change and variability on various temporal scales, as well as the impacts of climate variability and change.

This work includes:

Earth systems and processes

Research under this theme focuses on understanding the interaction between the earth and aquatic systems. It includes research on the environmental impacts of various interactions between the solid earth and the oceans or other aquatic systems, including efforts to understand and characterize processes relevant for sustaining and enhancing habitat for aquatic organisms. The research also encompasses tsunami prediction, coastal inundation research, and freshwater hydrology and geomorphology. This work includes:

Environmental chemistry and ocean carbon

Photo: Sarah Spanos

Environmental data science

Research conducted under this theme will focus on the methodologies, organization, structuring, visualization and analysis of environmental data.

The vast amounts of data collected each day make bringing to bear the data in an efficient and organized manner through the use of emerging technologies important to NOAA. This theme supports the development and integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning systems into environmental data science. 

Image: Ryzhi via Shutterstock

Human dimensions in marine systems

Activities under this theme include development of data management strategies and tools, data assimilation, automated quality control routines, optimized data storage, solutions to enable dynamic data access, and user interfaces to support these functions. 

This theme focuses on the full range of social sciences important for the valuation, public understanding, dissemination and policy-related use of scientific information related to marine environment and ecosystems. This work includes:

Photo: Carolann Woody/NPS

Ocean and coastal observations

Research conducted under this theme is associated with the collection and analysis of physical, biological, and chemical observations of the ocean and coastal environment, including the atmosphere. These observations are important for understanding global and regional processes and predictions on various temporal scales. Spatially, they include the global oceans with emphasis on the Pacific Ocean, the tropics, the Washington, Oregon, and Alaskan coasts as well as polar regions. This work includes:

Photo: National Park Service

Marine ecosystems: Observation, analysis, and forecasts

Research under this theme will lead to improved forecasting of marine ecosystem conditions, particularly in the North Pacific and Alaska. This research includes:

Work under this theme will make extensive use of current and past environmental, ecological and socio-economic data; large-scale environmental and ecological studies as well as focused process studies for understanding ecosystem functions and change, and model development, parameterization and verification and the prototype development of decision-support tools that enable improved regional ecosystem forecasting, ecosystem management and ecosystem policy decisions.

Other areas of inquiry in this theme include:

Research under this theme will also identify and improve the understanding of causes and effects of climate variability and change, nutrient dynamics, acidification, hypoxia, parasites and pathogens, and invasive species on ecosystems. Efforts will likely be interdisciplinary in nature and involve the integration of physical, natural, and social sciences to evaluate the complexity of interactions between people and natural systems at the regional and local level.

Photo: Gay Sheffield/Alaska Sea Grant

Polar studies

This theme focuses on understanding the physical, chemical, biological and ecological systems in the Antarctic, Arctic, and Alaska regions. This theme incorporates components of the other climate, earth system, chemistry and ecosystem themes, with a particular focus on the unique environments found at high latitudes. This work includes:

Photo: NOAA-PMEL