In Search Of: Well-established oceanographic society is seeking long-term relationship with new members and/or a merger with an existing society with mutual interests. Must be willing to explore options for new programs and services to membership. Inquire within.

The Oceanography Society (TOS) is approaching its 20th birthday. It is good practice for every organization, public or private, to periodically re-examine its founding principles and make sure it is still responsive to its members, clients, and stakeholders. One thing is for sure, for those of us working in the field day in and day out, the discipline of oceanography has changed since TOS’s inaugural meeting in 1988. Great progress has been made in understanding the oceans through advances in technology, through the application of new techniques, and through the use of interdisciplinary approaches. Twenty years ago, oceanography was still disciplinary focused on its geological, biological, chemical, and physical aspects. Much of the research was exploratory and aimed at discovery and better understanding fundamental ocean processes. And much ocean research then was focused on national defense. The International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) during the 1970s started to couple relationships between oceanographic disciplines, but even so, each of the five IDOE programs were fairly discipline-specific.

Clark, L. 2005. From the President: ISO. Oceanography 18(3):6–7, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2005.26.

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