The Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) is the flagship conference for the ocean sciences and the larger ocean-connected community. Every two years, OSM unifies the oceans community to share findings, connect scientists from around the world, and advance the impact of science.

The oceanographic community has made great strides over the past three decades in developing physical and biogeochemical open-ocean observing capacity. However, a more holistic understanding of marine ecosystem function and change requires the integration of large-scale, sustained biological and ecological observations. Over the last few years, pilot projects in the USA, Japan and Australia have begun to incorporate routine biological measurements into GO-SHIP cruises. These pilot projects form the basis for an incipient global Bio-GO-SHIP sustained biological ocean observing program, however work remains to be done to expand its reach geographically, develop best practices and interoperability standards for the data across the full range of data collection techniques (omics, flow cytometry, imaging, acoustics) and coordinate with existing ocean biodiversity panels and programs.

Chaired by Alice Soccodato, EMBRC’s Science Unit Manager, this Town Hall aims to bring together current and prospective contributors to the international Bio-GO-SHIP program to:

• Engage potential contributors from GO-SHIP nations not currently running Bio-GO-SHIP projects, including protocol and sample sharing, and cruise participation.
• Coordinate with GOOS and GEO BON to identify EOVs and EBVs, respectively, to prioritize within GO-SHIP, including standards, data sharing and integration into existing biodiversity repositories.
• Establish an international Bio-GO-SHIP committee to monitor, advocate and regularly review biological and ecological variables.