Organizers announce the 3rd Blue Planet Symposium. This symposium will convene at the conference center of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Center for Weather and Climate Prediction in College Park, Maryland.

Blue Planet is an initiative of the Group of Earth Observations (GEO). GEO aims to address global challenges and improve decision making by coordinating and developing Earth observation efforts among participating governments and organizations. The overall goal of Blue Planet Initiative is to ensure the sustained development and use of ocean and coastal observations for the benefit of society. Blue Planet is a network of networks made up of participants from a variety of existing international organizations, regional organizations, national institutes, universities, government agencies, project groups, and other interested parties.

The symposium will serve as a forum for discussion of societal information needs resulting from the important role the oceans play in Earth's life-support system and the challenge of minimizing the impacts of human activities on the oceans while utilizing the resources of the oceans to meet our needs. The symposium will also be a platform for the participating communities to exchange information on their activities and identify related potential pilot and prototype projects to focus on in the coming years.

The symposium will address four sub-themes:

The changing oceans
Threats from pollution, warming, and acidification
Processes and life at the interfaces with the oceans
Sustainable use of ocean resources
The symposium is open to scientists, researchers, and students from academia, industry, government, users of ocean observation data and information, and other stakeholders engaged in monitoring, understanding, and managing the oceans.

Registration deadline: 28 April 2017.

http://symposium.geoblueplanet.com