Overview

The Center for Ocean Solutions (COS) is a collaboration among Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment and Hopkins Marine Station, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Located at Stanford and in Monterey, California, COS is uniquely placed within a premier research university and is in partnership with MBARI, a leading ocean science/engineering research institution, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which defines excellence in their outreach to the public and to decision makers regarding ocean issues.

COS focuses on finding practical, enduring solutions to the greatest challenges facing the oceans in three focal areas:1. The protection of marine systems and ecosystem services,2. Land-ocean interactions,3. The effects of global climate change on marine and coastal systems.

Through our Climate Change Initiative, COS is working with both research and decision making communities to advance our collective understanding of how climate change affects the dynamics in ocean and coastal systems. We are also working to communicate and translate these changes and to help coastal communities adapt effectively for long term sustainability. Climate change is an integrative challenge that will directly inform our strategies and approaches within the Ecosystem Health and Land-Sea Interaction focal areas.

We seek to elevate the impact of the sciences on ocean policy by integrating cutting edge science and technology with economic, social, and political expertise for the development of practical solutions to major ocean challenges.