CEODOS-Chile a consortium for oceanographic research on the Chilean coast

The Consortium of Research Centers of Excellence behind the CEODOS Chile program, made up of the COPAS Sur-Austral/COPAS Coastal Center, the Center for Mathematical Modeling of the University of Chile (CMM); the Climate and Resilience Science Center (CR2), the Genome Regulation Center (CRG), the Ecosystem Research Center of Patagonia (CIEP), the Dynamic Research Center of High Latitude Marine Ecosystems (IDEAL) , the Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research (INCAR) and Inria Chile, met for the first time this year, after the scientific sailboat Tara traveled the Chilean coast from south to north to assess the health of the coastal ocean and help understand the effects of climate change.

In the meeting held in a hybrid manner at the COPAS center of the University of Concepción, the directors of the associated centers learned about the current status of the mission, shared the data collected with the consortium and discussed the future work plan, in addition to the upcoming publications related to the CEODOS-Chile project.

During the meeting, led by the national coordinators of CEODOS-Chile, the director of COPAS Coastal, Dr. Camila Fernández, and the researcher and former director of the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM), Dr. Alejandro Maass; the directors of the centers declared their willingness to sign an agreement that will give continuity to the initiative in the long term, which includes scientific research, technology transfer, ocean education and training of advanced human capital.

Through the signing of this agreement, the centers undertake to form an interdisciplinary group on marine, environmental, genomic, mathematical modeling and artificial intelligence issues and to work together to provide the country, on a regular basis, with a comprehensive evaluation of planktonic diversity on the Chilean coast, from viruses to zooplankton).

According to the statement, CEODOS-Chile seeks to quantify the carbon that is currently being fixed by the Chilean ocean and its role in the exchange of greenhouse gases, from the southern waters to the extreme north of Chile. It is also proposed to map microbial and planktonic diversity, identifying species with the potential to contribute to decision-making that help society adapt to climate change. As a third goal, CEODOS-Chile proposes the motto Communicate to change, integrating the general community of Chile in the effort to understand the importance of a healthy ocean for climate change and the sustainability of hydrobiological resources.

The director of the INCAR Center, Dr. Renato Quiñones, participated in the meeting in person, and remotely, the Executive Director of the CIEP, Dr. Giovanni Daneri; the director of the IDEAL Center, Dr. Humberto González, and the CR2 Researcher, Dr. Laura Farías, and the director of Inria Chile, Dr. Nayat Sánchez-Pi. The participation of the CRG was represented by Dr. Alejandro Maass, who is a researcher at that center.

Check out the full statement below:

Statement

The microscopic marine world is closely related to the water cycle and climate, which is why it is already beginning to be part of the global conversation. Chile, having a long coastline that crosses a diversity of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, is a true natural laboratory to investigate global change and contribute to decision-making based on science and technology.

For this reason, the undersigned centers declare their willingness to sign an agreement that gives continuity to the CEODOS-Chile program, which includes scientific research, technology transfer, ocean education and training of advanced human capital. The CEODOS-Chile program seeks:

1. quantify the carbon that is currently being fixed by the Chilean ocean and its role in the exchange of greenhouse gases from southern waters to the extreme north of Chile; 
2. map microbial and planktonic diversity, identifying species with the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation; Y
3. Communicate to change, integrating the general community of Chile in the effort to understand the importance of a healthy ocean for climate change and the sustainability of hydrobiological resources.

To quantify the physiological state of organisms responsible for the absorption of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the ocean, the centers will integrate an interdisciplinary group on marine, environmental, genomic, mathematical modeling and artificial intelligence issues and will work together to provide the country of a comprehensive periodic evaluation of the Chilean coast of planktonic diversity (from viruses to zooplankton). Thus, the centers will take advantage of their scientific, technological and human synergies, in order to develop impact tools for Chilean society and the world.

Dr. Alejandro Maass, CMM/CRG

Dr. Renato Quiñones. INCAR

Dra. Laura Farías, CR2

Dr. Giovanni Daneri, CIEP.

Dr. Humberto González, IDEAL

Dra. Nayat Sánchez-Pi, Inria Chile

Dr. Silvio Pantoja, COPAS Sur-Austral

Dra. Camila Fernández, COPAS Coastal