Townhalls
Townhall meetings at OCEANS 2025 Great Lakes provide an interactive platform for participants to engage in discussions on emerging topics and initiatives in marine science and technology. These 90-minute sessions are open to all attendees and are designed to facilitate active dialogue among government agencies, academic programs, special projects, and other interest groups.
List of Townhalls
Panel Speakers:
- Steve Ruberg, Observing Systems Researcher, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
- Stephanie Gandulla, Resource Protection Coordinator, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary
- Russ Green, Superintendent, Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary
- Marissa Nuttall, Research Specialist, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
This town hall will be modeled on a pitch/reverse-pitch session hosted by the UN Ocean Decade Technology and Innovation Working Group during the UNOD Conference in Nice. The town hall will bring together pitches (technology solutions) and reverse-pitches (technology needs) inspired by the SDGs. We will endeavor to populate the session with speakers who attend the UNOD conference and will thus be able to represent that global forum for our audience in Chicago.
Moderator
Justin Manley, Co-Chair UNOD Technology and Innovation Working Group
This town hall will be modeled on a pitch/reverse-pitch session hosted by the UN Ocean Decade Technology and Innovation Working Group during the UNOD Conference in Nice. The town hall will bring together pitches (technology solutions) and reverse-pitches (technology needs) inspired by the SDGs. We will endeavor to populate the session with speakers who attend the UNOD conference and will thus be able to represent that global forum for our audience in Chicago.
Moderator
Andy Ziegwied
In response to a trend toward exploring oceanography-focused careers outside of academia, The Oceanography Society (TOS) aims to build capacity to help industry, NGOs, and agencies hire professionals with multi-disciplinary oceanographic and technology expertise. This townhall, hosted by TOS, will provide resources and networking opportunities to facilitate interactions among industry, NGOs, and agencies and their potential workers in various stages of their careers. The format will consist of two parts. First, a panel of employers from industry, NGOs, and agencies will describe and address questions focused on available positions, what skills are needed, potential training or certification program opportunities, how to develop a competitive CV/resume, and how to prepare for an application and interview. The second part will consist of smaller round-table discussions where panel members and other industry, NGO, and agency representatives will rotate around the room to promote more informal conversations about careers at their organizations.
Please click here for more information.
Moderators
Jenny Ramarui, TOS
Grace Saba, Rutgers University
Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA) had a vision: to create infrastructure throughout Lake Erie and its watershed that offers not only real-time monitoring, but also harnesses the ability to test and trial cutting-edge technologies in real-world conditions. This asset could allow tech companies to perfect their freshwater solutions and enter the market through Ohio, generating economic impact throughout our region as well as optimizing the management and care for our freshwater resources. Through support from the State of Ohio, Cuyahoga County, and federal funding via programs such as the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), this vision became a reality.
Moderator
Ebie Holst, Cleveland Water Alliance
In early 2025, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released the report, Forecasting the Ocean: The 2025-2035 Decade of Ocean Science. The purpose of the report is to provide advice on how to focus investments in ocean research, infrastructure, and workforce to meet national and global challenges in the coming decade and beyond. In doing so, the report addresses three distinct but overarching themes: Ocean and Climate; Ecosystem Resilience; and Extreme Events.
Now is the time for the United States to invest and take leadership in answering the urgent ocean science priorities. This townhall will serve two purposes: dissemination of the key report takeaways, and a discussion on opportunities to forge new partnerships directed towards achieving the goals of the next decade, at the public and private level, with a complimentary online component for submitting feedback or questions.
Moderator
Susan Roberts
Several core technology areas (such as sensors, robotics, and modeling) can be deployed across multiple sectors and industries, with a myriad of other applications as well. The specific problems and commercial and scalable solution areas related to the blue economy are not consistently understood by researchers and innovators working in those core technology areas. Thus, there is clear value to recruiting broadly from universities and innovation partners across the country, and to helping participants understand specific ocean-based challenges that require solutions, and the regions and partners appropriate for the development of each technology.
Please join us for a discussion of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Enterprise Accelerator program and how over the next four years, participants will gain access to entrepreneurial training, expert mentorship, Technology Development and Commercialization awards, and state-of-the-art testing facilities offered by partners around the country.
Moderator
Christina Tamer
A rapidly developing Ocean Economy requires a globally connected Ocean Enterprise providing critical ocean technology, measurements, and forecasts for driving positive economic benefits and expanding employment opportunities. Multiple technology and implementation challenges exist for observing and monitoring the ocean. Dismantling these barriers and identifying opportunities towards achieving a mature and vibrant Ocean Enterprise requires private sector and enhance public/private collaborations have the power to redefine this landscape by accelerating innovation, reducing costs, and driving new commercial applications. Join senior/executive leadership from multiple sectors in this facilitated panel discussion.
Moderators
Zack Baize
Hans VanSumeren
Reliable, high‑resolution observations of the Great Lakes’ physical and biogeochemical conditions underpin safe navigation, resilient coastal communities, and healthy freshwater ecosystems. Yet the sheer size, depth, and seasonal extremes of the Great Lakes make gathering this data costly and complex. A region-wide network of more than 100 real‑time data stations, uncrewed vehicles, and HF‑radar sites transmits wave, current, water level, and water quality data directly to researchers and decision makers. These measurements guide decisions in shipping, infrastructure, recreation, resource management, and public safety.
This panel brings together researchers will outline their organization’s overarching mission, the monitoring challenges, and the ways emerging observing platforms such as autonomous vehicles, long-dwell buoys, and modular sensor packages help address those challenges. The discussion will focus on broadly applicable lessons, highlighting practical considerations that anyone planning field work can adapt, and how observations are translated into action through engagement with end users.
Moderator
Nicholas Gagliano
There are increasing examples of autonomous systems supporting wind developers at several stages of pre-construction and construction activities. These include passive acoustic monitoring for both marine mammals and fish as part of impact mitigation plans. The Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA) seeks to advance research, communication, and regional collaboration on offshore wind development and fisheries. ROSA emphasizes the need to coordinate existing research and monitoring and advance collaboration and cooperative research.
There is a large body of work that has already been done to identify critical monitoring needs in conjunction with offshore wind development. However, the integration of surface and subsurface autonomous platforms into that effort has not been demonstrated. This Town Hall will present and discuss potential solutions.
Moderator
Dan Shropshire
This town hall will focus on the recently released strategy for mapping the Great Lakes to modern standards. The session will provide the audience with an overview of the strategy document, as well as updates on current mapping efforts in the Lakes. Please join us for an update on the effort and how to get involved in mapping the Great Lakes.
Moderator
Ed Bailey, Discovery Pier
The townhall will focus on marine technology for understanding the ecological significance, geographic scale and mineral composition of seabed mineral deposits. This townhall seeks voices from diverse disciplines, including engineering, robotics, ocean sensing, computing and systems, technology manufacturing, regulatory groups and universities. Facilitating a forum for discussion of the technology for exploration of marine mineral resources is exigent. Failure to do so risks slowing down technological progress and misunderstanding ecological relationships which may have consequences for resource management and permitting activities.. The exploration of marine minerals also offers a pathway to scientific breakthroughs and societal progress because our work in this realm is not only about the resources, but also about expanding the frontiers of our understanding, and defending our oceans as high value strategic assets.
Moderator
Nicole LeBoeuf, Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management, National Ocean Service
Infrastructure relevant to the ocean and other large water bodies have incorporated a variety of AI/ML-enabled technologies at different layers of operation. However, lack of AI/ML standards specific to aquatic environments render it difficult to predict AI/ML algorithmic performance, which impacts the short-term usability and long-term impact of AI/ML-enabled technologies in this paradigm. AI/ML standards proposed in non-aquatic domains need to be evaluated for their effectiveness in the underwater domain, and potentially new AI/ML standards specific to the underwater domain need to be proposed. The main idea of the townhall is to bring together a panel of interdisciplinary experts from industry, academia, and other sectors using AI/ML technology to discuss the grand challenges facing AI/ML applications to oceanic science and underwater technology. The townhall will also feature a Q&A discussion between the panelists and the audience regarding stakeholders, potential solutions and where AI/ML Standards in the underwater domain are needed.
Moderator
Ananya Sen Gupta, University of Iowa, IEEE member
