CenSeam, an International Program on Seamounts Table 5. CenSeam by the numbers: outputs of CenSeam and CenSeam-affiliated researchers. flagship cruises special sessions organized or co-organized at conferences theses and dissertations produced by CenSeam-affiliated scholars workshops organized or co-organized countries with participants taxonomists in CenSeam Taxonomy Network invited seminars, speeches and briefings active members (those on working groups, authoring or editing articles or issues, receiving mini-grant funding, participating in analysis project, etc.) expeditions joined by CenSeam-affiliated researchers publications by CenSeam-affiliated researchers people receiving the CenSeam newsletters in funding to CenSeam-affiliates for seamount-related research 8 12 15 16 30 59 60 ,100 122 228 ,500 ,$20,000,000 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032031.t005 occurrence data from multiple seamounts and studies into one integrated web-accessible database to support scientific analyses and management decisions. From the first year of CenSeam, SeamountsOnline was serving data online. Throughout the tenure of CenSeam, SeamountsOnline’s data holdings tripled and new features were added to the portal, such as a map interface for querying and accessing data. Its database structure became a model for other Census of Marine Life programs setting up databases, as well as for the SYNDEEP, the CoML’s cross-habitat deep sea biodiversity study. SeamountsOnline supported some of the early gap analysis work that informed CenSeam priorities, such as creating the first global map of biological sampling on seamounts. Data from SeamountsOnline were also used for analyses [35–37], planning future expeditions [38,39], and to support the data evaluation stages of some of the DAWG analyses. Despite best efforts, SeamountsOnline only holds a fraction of the world’s seamount data. The completeness of SeamountsOnline was limited by the person support needed for time-consuming data entry (particularly digitization of older, hard-copy reports). A further challenge was the lack of a well-established culture of data sharing in the deep- sea biological community, in contrast to, for example, astronomy, genetics and physical oceanography. Nor are there widely-adopted standards and formats for data and data description. While researchers were supportive of the concept in many cases, limits to data sharing included the understandable prioritization of funded project deliverables over the generally-unfunded work of preparing datasets for sharing, a lack of clear community agreements for crediting data providers (some CenSeam scientists expected co- authorship in any paper using their data, but were offered only citation and acknowledgement), a desire to retain ownership of data until all publications were produced (a process that could span many years), and a perception that SeamountsOnline was not complete enough or flexible enough to meet real analysis needs, particularly in its earlier years. Data-sharing was improved when CenSeam directly funded data contributions through mini-grants. Researchers were also more likely to contribute data when a specific analysis goal was identified, and the data providers were actively involved in the analysis and any forthcoming publications. 3.5 Data Analysis Projects. CenSeam decided early on to actively facilitate meta-analyses across multiple and often disparate datasets. These challenging analysis projects were undertaken under the auspices of the DAWG, fueled by CenSeam funds that allowed small groups to meet at intervals for 2–3 day workshops. Groups were generally less than 10 people, selected for their access to required data, or their biological, statistical, or modeling expertise. A substantial number and diversity of analysis projects were undertaken and completed within the lifetime of CenSeam (Table 2), and the scientific output as measured by publications was high compared to the costs. These projects generally focused on filling critical gaps in the scientific knowledge of seamounts, providing targeted conservation or management advice, or taking advantage of valuable available data or expertise. The DAWG organization structure is considered instrumental in the success of the data analysis projects. Though most DAWG members were not funded beyond travel expenses, they received professional recognition for publications coming out of DAWG. In addition, participants found value in the DAWG meetings as opportunities to discuss their individual research projects with colleagues, and consider ways to enhance their planned analyses, which fostered additional projects not explicitly supported by CenSeam [40–42]. CenSeam generally selected somewhat isolated and interesting locations to encourage focus and camaraderie within the group, and provide a small additional incentive for involvement. However, there was also a cost to this approach: the additional travel time for a somewhat more remote location occasionally made participation difficult for those with restricted schedules. 3.6 Training Workshops. Photos and videos have become widely used tools to complement, or replace, physical collections of organisms, especially in deep waters. However, there is often large variability in image collection techniques, gear types, survey designs, storage, documentation, and processing methods. In 2007, CenSeam organized and funded a workshop to bring together 24 international representatives to further the standardization of practices through a detailed discussion of image acquisition, survey design, data management, and image analysis. The meeting provided an opportunity for researchers to share knowledge that was much more technical and detailed than normally published in the primary literature or presented at a scientific conference. One outcome of the 2007 workshop was a recognition of the wide need for improved training on the identification of organisms from video. To meet this need, CenSeam partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in 2009 to PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 5 February 2012 | Volume 7 | Issue 2 |