Given the immense breadth and scope of ocean exploration, it would be impossible for the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research to achieve our mission without working closely with other federal and state agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and private industry. This is why partnerships play such a crucial role in all of OER’s work.
The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER)'s partnerships leverage complementary expertise and produce innovations in exploration tools and capabilities. By working with institutions with a wide range of experience, expertise, and creativity, OER is able to enhance the potential for significant new advances in discovery, understanding, action, and inspiration. OER is also working to coordinate a national program for ocean exploration, the foundation of which will need to be built on strong and successful partnerships across the exploration community and beyond.
Below are the primary academic and nongovernmental organizations that OER partners with regularly.
Within NOAA, OER regularly partners with offices across the agency, from the National Ocean Service to NOAA Fisheries. OER has a long-standing partnership with the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, which operates NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer as well as other vessels within NOAA’s fleet that are used for exploration. The management, archiving, and delivery of data collected through OER-supported expeditions happens through a partnership with NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Cooperation with other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, NASA, and U.S. Navy, also plays an important role in OER’s mission to explore the deep ocean.
Additionally, OER and NOAA have entered into several public-private partnerships to advance ocean science, technology, discovery, and outreach with organizations such as Kraken, Fugro, the Octonauts, Vulcan Inc., Caladan Oceanic, OceanX, and Ocean Infinity.