Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

The Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies is led by the University of Washington but housed jointly with Oregon State University and the International Arctic Research Center. The institute allows NOAA to tap the brainpower at universities in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. This will help NOAA meet its research, education and public engagement goals.

CICOES is one of 17 cooperative institutes nationwide. NOAA funds cooperative institutes at universities with strong research programs to extend basic and applied research beyond NOAA’s own capacity.

CICOES focuses on nine research themes:

• Climate and ocean variability, change and impacts
• Earth systems and processes
• Environmental chemistry and ocean carbon
• Marine ecosystems: observation, analysis and forecasts
• Ocean and coastal observations
• Environmental data science
• Aquaculture science
• Human dimensions in marine systems
• Polar studies

Why is this work important?

This is a critical time for the Arctic, where rapid change coincides with shrinking research budgets, making the need for cooperation and coordination of Arctic observations vital in order to address anticipated environmental challenges.

CICOES helps partner key scientists with opportunities at NOAA, contribute to integrating environmental information across Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.