About the Hub
The lack of diversity in ocean science and conservation stands in stark contrast to the increasingly diverse populations living along coastlines—resulting in less effective and inclusive research, management, and advocacy and ultimately fostering distrust between stakeholders, scientists, and policy makers.
The ICONIC Oceans Initiative, led by Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), aims to bridge this gap by supporting scientists and stakeholders from communities often disenfranchised in marine conservation conversations, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), economically disadvantaged communities and communities that rely on the ocean’s resources for survival or economic stability.
To propel the initiative forward, MISS has launched the ICONIC Oceans Data Hub, a public database of marine datasets and programming scripts. By making field study research, tutorials, maps, etc. more easily accessible, the hub will improve collaboration among scientists, policy makers, fishers and community stakeholders as well as provide educational resources for new generations of researchers. The current version of the site was produced in partnership with the University of Chicago Data Science Institute, with generous support from the 11th Hour Project of the Schmidt Family Foundation.
