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One of the biggest barriers to conducting ocean science around the globe is limited access to computational tools and resources, including software, computing infrastructure, and data. Open tools, such as open-source software, open data, and online computing resources, offer promising solutions toward more equitable access to scientific resources. Here, we discuss the enabling power of these tools in under-resourced and non-English speaking regions, based on experience gained in the organization of three independent programs in West African, Latin American, and Indian Ocean nations. These programs have embraced the “hackweek” learning model that bridges the gap between data science and domain applications. Hackweeks function as knowledge exchange forums and foster meaningful international and regional connections among scientists. Lessons learned across the three case studies include the importance of using open computational and data resources, tailoring programs to regional and cultural differences, and the benefits and challenges of using cloud-based infrastructure. Sharing capacity in marine open data science through the regional hackweek approach can expand the participation of more diverse scientific communities and help incorporate different perspectives and broader solutions to threats to marine ecosystems and communities.
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Strengthening Ocean Science Capacity: Insights from the West Africa Marine Science Symposium
West Africa has an extensive coastline stretching 7,367 km over 12 mainland countries and two archipelagos. The region’s coastal and marine ecosystems are among the most productive and biologically diverse in the world. However, the ocean resources are under intense anthropogenic pressures encompassing pollution, habitat degradation, biodiversity loss, overfishing, and climate-change-induced sea level rise. These challenges call for science-based and community-led actions to reverse current negative trends. Unfortunately, poor capacity to understand West Africa’s ocean is an age-old struggle by scientists in the region, and it remains among the least studied globally.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2318309
- PAR ID:
- 10599669
- Publisher / Repository:
- The Oceanography Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Oceanography
- Volume:
- 38
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1042-8275
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2025.120
