Overview

The U.S. Science Support Program associated with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program supports involvement of the U.S. scientific community in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), an international program of basic research in marine geosciences that uses multiple ocean drilling platforms to explore the Earth's history and environment.

Objectives

The U.S. Science Support Program is managed by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership for the National Science Foundation under a Cooperative Agreement.  The program's objectives include:  (1) supporting travel and salary for U.S.-based scientists to participate in IODP drilling expeditions and post-expedition activities, (2) supporting planning activities and U.S. participation in the Scientific Advisory Structure (SAS) of IODP, (3) encouraging advance activities that further the development of ocean drilling proposals and expeditions (e.g., participation in site surveys or analysis of ancillary data sets), (5) developing educational and community engagement programs that expose the U.S. populace, especially students and educators, to the science arising from ocean drilling research, and (6) establishing an effective national advisory committee to interact with the U.S. and international scientific communities and the National Science Foundation, and to disseminate results and encourage wide and multidisciplinary participation of research scientists in IODP.

New Cooperative Agreement

March 2007:  JOI has finalized the U.S. Science Support Program (USSSP) 2007 – 2013 budget for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). As JOI President Steve Bohlen explained in JOI News (Spring 2007), JOI and IODP currently face a tough financial situation due to new NSF budget realities.  NSF is decreasing all ocean drilling facility-related programs by 20-35%.  USSSP’s new budget is no exception.  Due to these cuts, the new cooperative agreement will no longer support instrument development or undergraduate research awards, and supplemental science support funding was also reduced.
 
Despite the challenges, JOI, with extensive consultation and guidance from  the U.S. Advisory Committee for Scientific Ocean Drilling (USAC), was able to minimize the impact of these cuts on the program. USSSP will continue to support the full complement of U.S. scientists aboard each IODP expedition, and the base support for scientists that participate in expeditions remains intact. Expedition co-chief salary was slightly increased and new salary support will be available for Chief Project Scientist and Mission Support.  Read More