The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced an agreement to have the National Academies establish a new standing committee on environmental science and assessment for offshore energy and mineral resources. The committee will provide independent information on issues relevant to BOEM’s environmental studies and assessment activities and support discussions on relevant issues. The committee’s services will be provided under a three-year contract with the National Research Council (NRC), the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
The NRC issued a call for nominations on 23 June, 2015, seeking a broad pool of applicants for the standing committee. Nominations will be accepted by the NRC until 15 July, 2015. The NRC expects to announce the committee membership later in the summer, followed by an announcement of its plans for the first meeting in the fall of 2015.
The NRC will appoint approximately 15 experts out of a broad pool of qualified experts from academia, the private sector and other organizations with expertise in the scientific disciplines relevant to BOEM’s environmental assessment and studies programs.
Committee member expertise will encompass both natural and social sciences, and relevant disciplines within those broad areas as warranted, such as ecology and population biology, physical and chemical oceanography and marine archaeology.
The committee members will provide their expertise and advice without compensation and are not required to be members of the National Academies. The committee will meet several times a year, and may conduct workshops, studies or peer review documents relevant to BOEM’s environmental programs. The work will be purely advisory in nature, and will be limited to relevant independent and objective advice. It will not include recommendations on what policy or management decisions should be made.
Topics and activities the committee or sub-committees may explore include: strategic approaches to environmental monitoring to assess ecosystem health and mitigation effectiveness; stakeholder discussions on controversial issues; reviews of proposed BOEM studies; high level reviews and expert advice on gaps and priorities for research; technical input related to BOEM’s environmental programs; enhancing understanding of innovation in science and technology; and if warranted, NRC studies on specific topics.
Image: Strawberry anemone/BOEM
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