First Paragraph
Public health and socioeconomic issues constitute one of the five priority areas for the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) Research Board (RB). Public expression of this emphasis, however, did not result in a volume of proposals for research funding that was at all comparable to the interest shown by a diverse set of investigators in physical and biological oceanography, marine biology, ecology, chemistry, and engineering who focused on GoMRI’s other four themes. Following consultations and a workshop with deans of schools of public health and other leadership personnel in social science and health policy areas, it became clear that the minimal extant linkages between ocean science and public health groups served to limit interest in participation by that community in the multidisciplinary consortia that were being forged in response to GoMRI’s initial request for proposals (RFPs) in 2010.