IQOE Sponsorship

IQOE Sponsorship

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation provided most of the seed funding for the development of IQOE. SCOR and POGO are contributing additional resources for implementation.


During 2010, on behalf of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (New York, USA), Jesse Ausubel approached the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) to explore the idea of an International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE). With Sloan support, SCOR and POGO organized a feasibility workshop in the United States and subsequently an open science conference in 2011 in Paris. About 75 experts attended the 2011 conference at the headquarters of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, with additional assistance facilitated by IOC Executive Secretary Wendy Watson-Wright. Following the conference, SCOR and POGO dedicated significant time of professional staff members to help volunteer scientists develop the IQOE Science Plan and obtain endorsements of it. While the initial plan earned endorsements during 2015, Jesse Ausubel and VADM Paul Gaffney USN (Ret.) arranged philanthropic support to incubate the IQOE through the Monmouth University – Rockefeller University marine science and policy initiative, supported for the period 2015-2019. SCOR and POGO have each contributed modest additional resources for implementation. Funds suffice to continue to plan and build support for the IQOE, but additional funds must be obtained to establish stronger organizational infrastructure for the program internationally and in key nations and regions, and to conduct its actual implementation.