Global Ocean Corps and Conveyor: A Capacity Development Program

Abstract Oceanography is by nature a global science, and thus requires a global trained workforce. Yet in many coastal nations, the number of trained professionals working in ocean science fields is lacking. Global Ocean Corps and Conveyor (GOCC), an endorsed capacity development programme of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, aims to increase the geographical and cultural diversity of the ocean science workforce through facilitating and building sustained long-term education and research collaborations between scientists around the globe. Based upon our collective experience with schools and workshops held in Ghana, Malaysia, University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center, and elsewhere, we are confident that a well-funded Ocean Corps would inspire large numbers of scientists, especially early-career scientists, into its ranks, thus molding many of them into champions for international capacity development for the remainder of their careers, and fostering truly global ocean science collaborations worldwide.