Liaisons | International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE)

Liaisons

The IQOE Science Committee (SC) recognized that several organizations and programs, mainly global and regional, also could contribute significantly to the success of the IQOE. Accordingly, the SC identified potential Liaisons. Liaisons representing other kinds of national organizations or agencies, research institutions or agencies, and regional and global organizations and programs were considered on a case-by-case basis.

Benefits of Liaison Relationships

Both IQOE and the organizations represented by liaisons benefited from the relationship in terms of information flow between the organizations and potential for cooperative activities of mutual interest and avoidance of duplicative activities. IQOE Liaisons were kept informed about program evolution, invited to attend IQOE SC and working group meetings (at their organization’s expense), and consulted on the conduct of various IQOE activities. Liaisons can be involved by email, in conference calls, and by attending in-person meetings.

Responsibilities of Liaisons

The primarily responsibility of liaisons was to serve as a linkage between IQOE and their organizations/projects, reporting in both directions and highlighting areas of potential cooperation.

Limits of Liaison Relationships

IQOE Liaisons were not ex-officio members of the IQOE SC, so were not consulted on every decision, or receive every communication sent to SC members, etc. They did not participate in Executive Sessions and were not eligible to vote. Their liaison position depended on their continuing position with a relevant organization or program that is actively engaged in activities of common interest to the IQOE.

Current Liaisons

Biology and Ecosystems Panel of the Global Ocean Observing System: Lavenia Ratnarajah
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention): Nathan Merchant
Marine Environmental Research Infrastructure for Data Integration and Application Network (MERIDIAN): Romina Gehrmann
Ocean Tracking Network: Frederick Whoriskey

Status

IQOE's term as a decadal project was completed on 31 December 2025. Since 2015, IQOE implemented its Science Plan (available here) developed from an open science meeting in 2012. IQOE successfully coordinated a variety of activities in ocean acoustics and bioacoustics through IQOE working groups on the use of acoustics to assess biodiversity, the importance of acoustic observations in the Arctic Ocean, standards for reporting ocean acoustic and bioacoustic data for IQOE, software for making acoustic observations comparable worldwide, and recommendations for implementation of an Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable for the Global Ocean Observing System. IQOE progress has been documented since June 2018 through IQOE Newsletters and since the beginning of the project through other products. IQOE identified 2020 as the Year of the Quiet Ocean because of evidence that ocean sound decreased because of decreases in human activities in the ocean due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next Steps

Although IQOE has completed its term, several activities begun by IQOE will continue to work independently or under a new structure. The IQOE Science Committee set up a committee to convene an open workshop to plan the next steps for continuing IQOE activities and for implementation of the Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable (EOV). The workshop will be held on 22-24 September 2026 at the Flanders Marine Institute in Oostende, Belgium. More details about the workshop will be forthcoming in the near future.