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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility

The Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program is enriched by diverse perspectives, celebrating each other’s unique experience and expertise.

The people of NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program, and the intellectual capability they provide, are its greatest asset. As the pace of change and technological advancement in environmental science increases, NOAA’s world-class workforce will continue to be important to the management of weather, water, and climate.

The Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program places a strong emphasis on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) through its 2021-2025 Strategic Plan Goal 4, which is to “develop and capitalize on the expertise, diversity and capacity of the ocean observing enterprise.” GOMO recognizes the need to support development of a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible ocean observing enterprise in order to benefit from a wider range of experiences, perspectives, approaches, and talent. We have identified eight objectives to help us reach this goal, focusing on capacity development and community engagement.

Pictured Above: Scientists from NOAA and Indonesia’s BMKG at the Annual RAMA Workshop

As a global leader in ocean observing research, GOMO is committed to increasing and strengthening the participation of underrepresented groups and individuals in the ocean observing enterprise;
to widen access to the data and knowledge of the global ocean for the benefit of all;
and to support the development of talent and skills of the next generations of ocean experts.

– David Legler, GOMO Program Director

GOMO works with scientists, researchers, students, leaders and organizations around the world.

View some examples of our work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility

Capacity building and working with students:
  • Managing the Adopt-a-Drifter Program, which provides classrooms with free, hands-on ocean science curriculum using data from drifting buoys.
  • Supporting the SEREAD education program, which provides regionally relevant ocean science built upon Argo data in a format that fits directly into existing curricula of Pacific Island schools.
  • Support for the RAMA Program and NOAA’s partnership with Indonesia’s BMKG, which includes sponsoring two students from Indonesia at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center each summer.
  • Through participation in the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (DBCP), GOMO supports international capacity building workshops.
  • US GO-SHIP Repeat Hydrography Program, funded by GOMO and NSF, offers post-doctoral fellowships to foster participation in analysis and collection of GO-SHIP data and provide opportunities for postdoctoral fellows to serve as co-chief scientists on every cruise leg. US GO-SHIP also offers hands-on training for undergraduate and graduate students and early career scientists.
  • Support for the Dissertations Symposium in Chemical Oceanography (DISCO) to facilitate the transition of new PhDs in Chemical Oceanography into their professional academic and research careers.
Working with Indigenous communities:
  • Inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in the Arctic Report Card annually since 2019.
  • The Arctic Research Program provides salary support for the IARPC secretariat for an Indigenous Engagement and Communications Specialist to help facilitate Alaska Native organization connections with Federal agencies, and build stronger relationships in Alaska.
Pictured Above: The 2022 Women in the Sciences Leadership Workshop Cohort
Elevating women in science:
  • Developing and leading the Women in the Sciences Leadership Workshop series since 2018. As of 2022, this workshop has reached 300 women across the country and internationally from academia, nonprofits and federal agencies.
  • Leading NOAA Research’s Women’s History Month digital campaign highlighting #womenofNOAA with profile interview articles. Since this campaign started in 2019, more than 70 women have been featured and their stories have been shared on social media.

The GOMO Program has a history of working with NOAA’s Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program each year, and participates in several of NOAA’s student internship programs:

  • Knauss Fellows: 12 (since 2015)
  • Lapenta Interns: 2 (since 2021)
  • Hollings Interns: 1 (2020)
  • Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions Interns: 1 (2019)
  • Volunteer Interns: 1 (2016) 

Since becoming a program office in 2020, the GOMO staff have had the ability to take on more interns and fellows. If you are interested in working with us, contact us! Learn more on our Education page

In response to many of these efforts, GOMO received an OAR Diversity Award in 2020!

GOMO is a program within NOAA Research, which has developed five strategies in response to NOAA’s changing operating landscape and the emerging challenges and opportunities that are influencing the environmental science community. The 2020-2026 NOAA Research Strategy supports the delivery of NOAA Research’s goals and objectives, as well as the advancement of NOAA’s six science and technology focus areas. The focus of one strategy is to “Develop the next-generation workforce,” which states:

“NOAA Research will grow the leaders of tomorrow. With a focus on diversity and inclusion, NOAA Research will broaden its talent pool to reflect multidisciplinary skill sets. NOAA Research will develop leadership and management skill sets across the workforce to prepare for succession planning and the demands of the future.”

Learn more on the NOAA Research DEIA webpage.