OceanSpaces is a technology program that uses innovative tools to promote science-informed decisions about ocean health. It presents marine protected area monitoring data in a transparent and impartial way to build trust between different groups. OceanSpaces has grown to over 850 members from various stakeholder groups and has hosted 30+ scientific projects and 113 data packages since being created in 2012 to be a repository for state-funded MPA monitoring data. Its goal is to start conversations between diverse constituencies and use technology and crowdsourcing to generate participatory governance based on science.

1. OceanSpaces: Innovative tools to build trust
and promote science-informed decisions
Jim Wicker
California Ocean Science Trust
OceanSpaces.org
Scientific Credibility
Community
Accessibility
Transparency
Innovation
Liz Whiteman
Program Director
Steve Wells
Web Developer
Laurel Kellner
Communications Coordinator
Science
Government
CommunityTechnology
Participation
How OceanSpaces Works
OceanSpaces is the technology program of the
California Ocean Science Trust and presents science
in a transparent and impartial framework.
We make data-driven decisions and adapt
technology to support the California ocean health
community.
OceanSpaces was created in 2012 and is the
repository for all state-funded marine protected area
monitoring data.
Join us on OceanSpaces.org to learn
more about California ocean health
and MPA monitoring.
OceanSpaces opens up a
conversation, rather than
driving to a decision. We invite
the community to engage with
science from California’s coast
and empower their participation
in the process.
We give the community technology
to link science and current events that
benefit from science-informed decisions.
Members write blogs, share news, and
tell their story.
With support from the
state we steward California’s
ocean health priorities.
We are accountable to all
members of the community.
OceanSpaces is more than a
data portal. We use technology to
organize data and invite people into
a community.
We crowdsource trust by creating new
opportunities for interactions and partnerships
between groups that might not interact
otherwise.
OceanSpaces operates on the frontier or
boundary between the way things were done
and how they should be done. We create
initiatives that engage all our possible partners
to provide a unified message which increases
“buy in”.
OceanSpaces has a diverse community made
up of fishermen, scientists, citizen scientists,
tribes, NGOs, policy-makers, and resource
managers.
By bringing the community together, we can
elevate the conversation on science from “Is it
trustworthy?” to “How can we use it to make
informed decisions?”
Social interaction engine for science
Crowdsourcing trust
850+ members
30+ scientific monitoring
projects
59 groups and organizations
113 data packages
─ presented in a transparent
and open access
environement. Who we are
We have a
responsibility
to bring together
contervailing
constituencies and
use technology to
start conversations.
These partnerships add
durability to our initiatives.
Our goal is to grow a diverse
community interacting with the
science coming from California.
Our goal is to generate
participatory governance,
founded on science-
informed decisions.
Science for all