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During the 2024 Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM24), The Oceanography Society’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee hosted a town hall on “Scientific Societies’ Roles in Building Inclusive Communities.” The town hall aimed to assess ongoing efforts to improve belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (BAJEDI) within ocean sciences, promote community building and discussions surrounding BAJEDI topics, and highlight the role of scientific societies in equity efforts. Here, we summarize the resultant communal discussions, which focused on effective models for increasing participation in ocean sciences, how to make ocean science careers more accessible, and strategies to build a more equitable community culture. Discussions highlighted several professional societies working to increase BAJEDI within the field and offered tangible action items to increase accessibility and equity at all career stages. An optional survey was distributed to OSM24 attendees to assess their lived experiences. Survey results highlighted that although knowledge of BAJEDI issues and training opportunities have increased, bullying and discrimination are still common. We recommend action items, including increased standardization and public accessibility of demographic data, to continue improving BAJEDI within ocean sciences. 

Abstract Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are considered a keystone species for higher trophic level predators along the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) during the austral summer. The connectivity of krill may play a critical role in predator biogeography, especially for central-place foragers such as thePygoscelisspp. penguins that breed along the WAP during the austral summer. Antarctic krill are also heavily fished commercially; therefore, understanding population connectivity of krill is critical to effective management. Here, we used a physical ocean model to examine adult krill connectivity in this region using simulated krill with realistic diel vertical migration behaviors across four austral summers. Our results indicate that krill north and south of Low Island and the southern Bransfield Strait are nearly isolated from each other and that persistent current features play a role in this lack of inter-region connectivity. Transit and entrainment times were not correlated with penguin populations at the large spatial scales examined. However, long transit times and reduced entrainment correlate spatially with the areas where krill fishing is most intense, which heightens the risk that krill fishing may lead to limited krill availability for predators.