Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A Perspective on the History and Evolution of an Oceans and Human Health “Metadiscipline” in the USA

  • Minireviews
  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We review recent history and evolution of Oceans and Human Health programs and related activities in the USA from a perspective within the Federal government. As a result of about a decade of support by the US Congress and through a few Federal agencies, notably the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, robust Oceans and Human Health (OHH) research and application activities are now relatively widespread, although still small, in a number of agencies and academic institutions. OHH themes and issues have been incorporated into comprehensive federal ocean research plans and are reflected in the new National Ocean Policy enunciated by Executive Order 13547. In just a decade, OHH has matured into a recognized “metadiscipline,” with development of a small, but robust and diverse community of science and practice, incorporation into academic educational programs, regular participation in ocean and coastal science and public health societies, and active engagement with public health decision makers. In addition to substantial increases in scientific information, the OHH community has demonstrated ability to respond rapidly and effectively to emergency situations such as those associated with extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes, floods) and human-caused disasters (e.g., the Deep Water Horizon oil spill). Among many other things, next steps include development and implementation of agency health strategies and provision of specific services, such as ecological forecasts to provide routine early warnings for ocean health threats and opportunities for prevention and mitigation of these risks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fleming LE, Broad K, Clement A, Dewailly E, Elmir S, Knap A, Pomponi SA, Smith S, Solo Gabriele H, Walsh P (2006) Oceans and human health: emerging public health risks in the marine environment. Mar Poll Bull 53:545–560

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sandifer P, Sotka C, Garrison D, Fay V (2007) Interagency oceans and human health research implementation plan: a prescription for the future. Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, Washington, DC, 92

    Google Scholar 

  3. Lubchenco J, Sutley N (2010) Proposed US policy for ocean, coast, and Great Lakes stewardship. Science 328:1485–1486

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Halpern BS, Longo C, Hardy D, McLeod KL, Samhouri JF, Katona SK, Kleisner K, Lester SE, O’Leary J, Ranelletti M, Rosenberg AA, Scarborough C, Selig ER, Best BD, Brumbaugh DR, Capin FS, Crowder LR, Daly KL, Doney SC, Elfes C, Fogarty MJ, Gaines SD, Jacobsen KL, Karr LB, Leslie HM, Neely E, Pauly D, Polasky S, Ris B, St Martin K, Stone GS, Sumaila UR, Zeller D (2012) An index to assess the health and benefits of the global ocean. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature11397

  5. Millennium Assessment (MA) (2005) Millennium ecosystem assessment. Synthesis report. Island Press, Washington, DC. www.millenniumassessment.org

  6. Worm B, Barbier EB, Beaumont N, Duffy JE, Folke C, Halpern BS, Jackson JBC, Lotze HK, Micheli F, Palumbi SR, Sala E, Selkoe KA, Stachowicz JJ, Watson R (2006) Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science 314:787–790

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Rice DL, Dearry A, Garrison DL (2004) Pioneering interdisciplinary research initiatives for oceans and human health. EcoHealth 1:220–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sandifer PA, Holland AF, Rowles TK, Scott GI (2004) The oceans and human health. Environ Health Perspect 112(8):A454–A455

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Tyson FL, Rice DL, Dearry A (2004) Connecting the oceans and human health. Environ Health Perspect 112(8):A455–A456

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Mihelcic JR, Crittenden JC, Small MJ, Shonnard DR, Hokanson DR, Zhang Q, Chen H, Sorby SA, James VU, Sutherland JW, Schnoor JL (2003) Sustainability science and engineering: the emergence of a new metadiscipline. Environ Sci Technol 37:5314–5324

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Trtanj JM, Davis JR, Collier TK (2013) Oceans and human health. In: Férard JF, Blaise C (eds) Encyclopedia of aquatic ecotoxicology. Springer, Dordrecht, p 1000

    Google Scholar 

  12. Sandifer PA, Collier TK and Trtanj JM (2012) Coastal ecosystems, sustainable management. Encyclopedia of sustainability science and technology 4:2258–2270

  13. Depledge MH, Harvey AJ, Brownlee C, Frost M, Moore, MN and Fleming LE (2013) Changing views of the interconnections between the oceans and human health in Europe. Microbial Ecol. doi:10.1007/s00248-012-0173-0

  14. Baden DG (2005) Oceans and human health: a new era of environmental opportunities. In: T.J. Goehl (ed) Essays on the future of environmental health research: a tribute to Dr. Kenneth Olden. Special issue. Environ Health Perspect, Research Triangle Park, NC. pp. 116–127

  15. Sandifer PA, Becker PR, Burnet LE, Holland AF, Lacy ER, Scott GI, Van Dolah RF (2005) The Hollings Marine Laboratory: a new model for government–academic partnering. Proceedings of the 14th Biennial Coastal Zone Conference, New Orleans, LA (extended abstract).

  16. Anderson DM, Galloway S, Joseph JD (1993) Marine biotoxins and harmful algae: a national plan. Tech. Rept. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Colwell RR (1996) Global climate and infectious disease: the cholera paradigm. Science 274:2025–2031

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. National Research Council (NRC) (1999) From monsoons to microbes: understanding the ocean’s role in human health. National Academies, Washington, DC, p 144

    Google Scholar 

  19. U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP) (2004) An ocean blueprint for the 21st century. Final Report. USCOP, Washington, DC, p 676

    Google Scholar 

  20. NRC (2001) Under the weather: climate, ecosystems, and infectious disease. National Academies, Washington, DC, 160

    Google Scholar 

  21. NRC (2002) Marine biotechnology in the twenty-first century: problems, promise, and products. National Academies, Washington, DC, 132

    Google Scholar 

  22. Knap AH (2000) Conference report. NIEHS/UNESCO Meeting on Indicators of Ocean and Human Health. Mar Pollut Bull 40(5):461–462

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Knap A, Dewailly E, Furgal C, Galvin J, Baden D, Bowen RE, Depledge M, Duguay L, Fleming LE, Ford T, Moser F, Owen R, Suk WA, Unluata U (2002) Indicators of ocean health and human health: developing a research and monitoring framework. Environ Health Perspect 110(9):839–845

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Bowen RE, Halvorson H, Depledge MH (2006) The oceans and human health. Mar Pollut Bull 53(10–12):541–544, and 12 other papers in this special issue

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. U.S. Ocean Action Plan (2004) The Bush Administration’s response to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. U.S. Ocean Action Plan, Washington, DC. December 17, 2004. p. 39

  26. Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (JSOST) (2007) Charting the course for ocean science in the United States: research priorities for the next decade. JSOST, Washington, DC. p. 67

  27. Jewett EB, Lopez CB, Dortch Q, Etheridge SM (2007) National assessment of efforts to predict and respond to harmful algal blooms in U.S. waters. Interim Report. Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  28. Jewett EB, Lopez CB, Dortch Q, Etheridge SM, Backer LC (2008) Harmful algal bloom management and response: assessment and plan. Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, Washington, DC, p. 76

  29. Lopez CB, Jewett EB, Dortch Q, Walton BT, Hudnell HK (2008) Scientific assessment of freshwater harmful algal blooms. Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, Washington, DC, p. 65

  30. Lopez CB, Dortch Q, Jewett EB, Garrison D (2008) Scientific assessment of marine harmful algal blooms. Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, Washington, DC, p. 62

  31. Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) (2010) Scientific assessment of hypoxia in U.S. coastal waters. Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, Washington, DC, p. 154

  32. HARRNESS (2005) In: Ramsdell JS, Anderson DM, Glibert PM (eds) Harmful algal research and response: a national environmental science strategy 2005–2015. Ecological Society of America, Washington, DC, 96

    Google Scholar 

  33. The Oceanography Society (2006) Special issue on the oceans and human health. Oceanography 19(2)

  34. Laws EA, Fleming LE, and Stegeman JJ (2008) Centers for oceans and human health: contributions to an emerging discipline. Environ Health 7 (Suppl 2): S1, and other papers in this special issue

  35. Walsh PJ, Smith S, Fleming LE, Solo-Gabrielle H, Gerwick WH (editors) (2008) Oceans and human health: risks and remedies from the seas. Elsevier, New York. ISBN: 978012375844

  36. Portier CJ, Thigpen Tart K, Carter SR, Dilworth CH, Grambsch AE, Gohlke J, Hess J, Howard SN, Luber G, Lutz JT, Maslak T, Prudent N, Radtke M, Rosenthal JP, Rowles T, Sandifer PA, Scheraga J, Schramm PJ, Strickman D, Trtanj JM, Whung P-Y (2010) A human health perspective on climate change: a report outlining the research needs on the human health effects of climate change. Environmental Health Perspectives/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park. doi:10.1289/ehp.1002272, Available: www.niehs.nih.gov/climatereport

    Google Scholar 

  37. Obama B (2010) Executive Order 13547: stewardship of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. Washington, DC. July 19, 2010

  38. Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force (IOPFT) (2010) Final recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. Council Environ Qual, Washington, DC., July 19, 2010. p. 96

  39. Anthony SJ, St. Leger JA, Pugliares K, Ip HS, Chan JM, Carpenter ZW, Navarrete-Macias I, Sanchez-Leon M, Saliki JT, Pederson J, Karesh W, Daszak P, Rabadan R, Rowles T, Lipkin WI (2012) Emergence of fatal avian influenza in New England harbor seals. mBio 3(4). doi:10.1128/mBio.00166-12

  40. Sutherland KP, Shaban S, Joyner JL, Porter JW, Lipp EK (2011) Human pathogen shown to cause disease in the threatened Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmera. PLoSONE 6(8):323468, 7 pp

    Google Scholar 

  41. Sinigalliano CD, Gidley ML, Shibata T, Whitman D, Dixon TH, Laws E, Hou A, Bachoon D, Amaral-Zettler L, Gast RJ, Steward GF, Nigro OD, Fujioka R, Betancourt WQ, Vithanage G, Mathews J, Fleming LE, Solo-Gabriele HM (2007) Impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the microbial landscape of the New Orleans area. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104(21):9029–9034

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Hom T, Collier TK, Krahn MM, Strom MS, Ylitalo GM, Nilsson WB, Paranjpye RN, Varanasi U (2008) Assessing seafood safety in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In: McLaughlin KD (ed) Mitigating impacts of natural hazards on fishery ecosystems, Amer Fish Soc Symp 64:73–94

  43. Ocean Health Working Group (OHWG) (2010) One ocean, one health, NOAA in the lead. A report from the NOAA Science Advisory Board. April 2010, p. 50

  44. NOAA (2010) NOAA’s next generation strategic plan. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC, p. 40

  45. Bright PR., Buxton HT, Balistrieri LS, Barber LB, Chapelle FH, Cross PC, Krabbenhoft DP, Plumlee GS, Sleeman JM, Tillitt DE, Toccalino PL, Winton JR (2012) USGS Environmental health science strategy—providing environmental health science for a changing world—public review release. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012–1069, p. 37

  46. Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources (2001) Ecological forecasting, Washington, DC, p. 12

  47. Clark JS, Carpenter SR, Barber M, Collins S, Dobson A, Foley JA, Lodge DM, Pascual M, Pielke R Jr, Pizer W, Pringle C, Reid WV, Rose KA, Sala O, Schlesinger WH, Wall DH, Wear D (2001) Ecological forecasts: an emerging imperative. Science 293:657–660

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Valette-Silver NJ and Scavia D (2003) Ecological forecasting: new tools for coastal and ecosystem management. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 1. p. 116

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the many participants in the NOAA Oceans and Human Health Initiative, the NOAA “One Health” group, and others for numerous contributions to the information and ideas presented here. The information, views, and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or the Department of Commerce.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hollings Marine Laboratory, National Ocean Service, NOAA, Charleston, SC, 29412, USA

    Paul A. Sandifer

  2. National Ocean Service, NOAA, 1305 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA

    Juli M. Trtanj

  3. UCAR, Seattle, WA, USA

    Tracy K. Collier

Authors
  1. Paul A. Sandifer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Juli M. Trtanj
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tracy K. Collier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul A. Sandifer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sandifer, P.A., Trtanj, J.M. & Collier, T.K. A Perspective on the History and Evolution of an Oceans and Human Health “Metadiscipline” in the USA. Microb Ecol 65, 880–888 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-013-0181-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-013-0181-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation