Accelerating ocean species discovery and laying the foundations for the future of marine biodiversity research and monitoring

<jats:p>Ocean Census is a new Large-Scale Strategic Science Mission aimed at accelerating the discovery and description of marine species. This mission addresses the knowledge gap of the diversity and distribution of marine life whereby of an estimated 1 million to 2 million species of marine life between 75% to 90% remain undescribed to date. Without improved knowledge of marine biodiversity, tackling the decline and eventual extinction of many marine species will not be possible. The marine biota has evolved over 4 billion years and includes many branches of the tree of life that do not exist on land or in freshwater. Understanding what is in the ocean and where it lives is fundamental science, which is required to understand how the ocean works, the direct and indirect benefits it provides to society and how human impacts can be reduced and managed to ensure marine ecosystems remain healthy. We describe a strategy to accelerate the rate of ocean species discovery by: 1) employing consistent standards for digitisation of species data to broaden access to biodiversity knowledge and enabling cybertaxonomy; 2) establishing new working practices and adopting advanced technologies to accelerate taxonomy; 3) building the capacity of stakeholders to undertake taxonomic and biodiversity research and capacity development, especially targeted at low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) so they can better assess and manage life in their waters and contribute to global biodiversity knowledge; and 4) increasing observational coverage on dedicated expeditions. Ocean Census, is conceived as a global open network of scientists anchored by Biodiversity Centres in developed countries and LMICs. Through a collaborative approach, including co-production of science with LMICs, and by working with funding partners, Ocean Census will focus and grow current efforts to discover ocean life globally, and permanently transform our ability to document, describe and safeguard marine species.</jats:p>

section_content: The Shuttle Program

section_content: The biggest scale and most expensive robotic missions NASA operates are the large strategic science missions (aka Flagship missions)

These missions are found across all four divisions of the SMD, and are assigned to a specific institution (usually a NASA center)

Smaller scale robotic missions tend to be competed, or PI-driven, meaning that NASA provides funding calls periodically with a certain amount of budget, and selects missions proposed by PI-led teams that fall within those budgetary constraints
section_name: Directed vs. Competed Missions

section_name: Decadal Survey

section_content: • In the Decadal Surveys (used to direct NASA's science mission priorities over the next decade), detailed cost estimates are performed both by the project team itself and an independent auditor (guess which number is usually higher)
section_name: Decadal Survey

section_content: James Webb Space Telescope "JWST is always 2 years away"

Artemis: Initial budget estimates
section_name: When budgets balloon