In an academy-to-academy effort that is novel for the ocean sciences, a Mexico-U.S. Joint Working Group (JWG) on Ocean Sciences was created in 1995 by the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) and the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias (AMC). The purpose of the JWG was to take “a further step to consolidate the conduct of ocean science between the two countries and to better integrate the ocean interest and understanding of the two countries.” To do so, it identified several examples of marine research topics for which binational cooperation could yield greater advances than solely national efforts. The advantages of binational cooperation derive fundamentally from the border-spanning nature of the oceanic processes and phenomena of interest, and from the insight to be gained by comparing and contrasting oceanographic phenomena applying a regional approach. The JWG also identified a number of other enabling actions that could be taken by the two governments, by scientific organizations, or by individual scientists of the two nations to improve the effectiveness and impact of binational research efforts. The recommendations of the JWG are given in a report (henceforth “the Report”) in English and Spanish (NRC and AMC, 1999).

Ayala-Castañares, A., and R.A. Knox. 2000. Opportunities and challenges for Mexico-U.S. cooperation in ocean sciences. Oceanography 13(3):79–82, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2000.15.

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