15 December 2000

MEDIA ADVISORY

American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting
Media Contact: Debbie Meyer, AGU press room, Dec. 15-19, (415) 905-1007 or at MBARI
(831) 775-1807, pressroom@mbari.org

A new era of ocean exploration
Press briefing to discuss Ocean Exploration Panel report

SAN FRANCISCO, California—President Clinton announced last summer a new era of ocean exploration and directed the Department of Commerce to convene a panel of leading ocean explorers, scientists, and educators to recommend a national strategy. The panel's preliminary report, just released, proposes a multidisciplinary approach in which the spirit of discovery would be the driving force. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already committed funds for 2001. 

A press briefing relating to this report will be hosted by the American Geophysical Union at its annual fall meeting in San Francisco. At this briefing, members of the panel will discuss the report and its significance to future understanding of the ocean. The briefing will take place Friday, December 15 at 11:00 in the Moscone Center, Room 112.

Panelists:

Marcia McNutt, Chair of the Ocean Exploration Panel; President, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California; and President, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.;
D. James Baker, Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmospheres, U.S. Department of Commerce; and Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C. (by phone).;
David L. Evans, Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C. (by phone);
Sylvia Earle, Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.;
Larry A. Mayer, Director, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire;
Daniel J. Fornari, Senior Scientist, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

For more information about this report, see the NOAA ocean exploration website.

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