Dear marine mammal community, On behalf of my co-authors, I am excited to announce our recent paper in Proceedings B on “The importance of migratory connectivity to global ocean policy,” an effort by a large working group within the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO) initiative (https://www.mico.eco) co-led by Daniel Dunn (University of Queensland & the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab at Duke University) and Autumn-Lynn Harrison (Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center). The paper discusses the current need and suggests recommendations to address the major gap between the large amounts of data being collected on marine animal movements, and the accessibility and application of those data for policy makers and managers. It also introduces a prototype knowledge (not data) repository: https://mico.eco/system. Rather than aggregating data, MiCO seeks to aggregate usable knowledge in the form of model results that can be easily ingested or understood by managers and policymakers, while also garnering benefits for contributors. Specifically, the system never distributes contributed datasets, but freely disseminates synthesized area-use and (soon) network models, and ensures attribution of all derived products back to the original contributors to allow them to track the impact of their research by tracking the use of the derived products.
We appreciate all of those who have contributed data, expertise, and knowledge to the initiative. The MiCO concept and prototype system have already informed and received very positive feedback from regional (Regional Seas Organizations) and global policy processes (CMS, International Whaling Commission, and Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction negotiations), as well as industry (to inform siting, EIAs, etc.). If you are interested in contributing to MiCO or learning more, please feel free to reach out (https://mico.eco/about/contact/). Our paper is freely available at: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.1472<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org_lookup_doi_10.1098_rspb.2019.1472&d=DwMFAg&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=alRIgW_rakbT1fDkDkNAMQLsMW3FcaHb91mNBnRM78U&m=7N-Z5H_w6kncfTGMFMtwTev7Q8GlcMHAEMVQhV3IYLM&s=VJyFlg0ror0pgKyx1roTt57wc_337r5Wfpi4c4Q7ca8&e=>. Lastly, I will be presenting MiCO with a speed talk at the World Marine Mammal Conference in Barcelona on December 12 at 9:55am. Thank you, Corrie Curtice, on behalf of my co-authors -- Corrie Curtice Research Analyst Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University http://mgel.env.duke.edu<http://mgel.env.duke.edu/> em: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
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