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Oceanography is inherently an interdisciplinary science capable of producing highly complex, heterogeneous data that pose unique challenges for data management and reuse. Evolving instrumentation and new research methodologies are increasingly taxing current strategies and technologies for management and reuse of data. Data-related publisher and funder requirements are relatively new demands that researchers must learn to navigate. These are just some of the stressors that repositories experience in their role of curating and publishing FAIR marine-related data. In response, oceanographic repositories are adapting by leveraging community data standards, engaging in the development of new technologies and the usage of novel tools to improve data discovery and interoperability. Additionally, they are collaborating with data-related stakeholders to help shape data-related policy, and fill an education role to promote good data hygiene and bring awareness of concepts like FAIR to the oceanographic research community. This presentation will highlight some of the activities of the BCO-DMO repository that are aimed at advancing the availability and reuse of Open oceanographic data. 

Involving the public in scientific discovery offers opportunities for engagement, learning, participation, and action. Since its launch in 2007, the CitSci.org platform has supported hundreds of community-driven citizen science projects involving thousands of participants who have generated close to a million scientific measurements around the world. Members using CitSci.org follow their curiosities and concerns to develop, lead, or simply participate in research projects. While professional scientists are trained to make ethical determinations related to the collection of, access to, and use of information, citizen scientists and practitioners may be less aware of such issues and more likely to become involved in ethical dilemmas. In this era of big and open data, where data sharing is encouraged and open science is promoted, privacy and openness considerations can often be overlooked. Platforms that support the collection, use, and sharing of data and personal information need to consider their responsibility to protect the rights to and ownership of data, the provision of protection options for data and members, and at the same time provide options for openness. This requires critically considering both intended and unintended consequences of the use of platforms, data, and volunteer information. Here, we use our journey developing CitSci.org to argue that incorporating customization into platforms through flexible design options for project managers shifts the decision-making from top-down to bottom-up and allows project design to be more responsive to goals. To protect both people and data, we developed—and continue to improve—options that support various levels of “open” and “closed” access permissions for data and membership participation. These options support diverse governance styles that are responsive to data uses, traditional and indigenous knowledge sensitivities, intellectual property rights, personally identifiable information concerns, volunteer preferences, and sensitive data protections. We present a typology for citizen science openness choices, their ethical considerations, and strategies that we are actively putting into practice to expand privacy options and governance models based on the unique needs of individual projects using our platform.