Craig McLean - Adapting to a Shifting Political Landscape

Key federal scientific institutions like NOAA, NSF, and EPA have faced immense challenges in the early days of the second Trump Administration, and with climate change accelerating, the need for reliable data has never been more urgent.

In his Possibility Ocean keynote, Craig McLean shared insights from his 40 years at NOAA, stressing the importance of partnerships across academia, industry, and philanthropy to expand ocean initiatives beyond government funding alone. The current global ocean observing system is four to five times less than what is needed for today's climate challenges. McLean made the argument that that philanthropy, the private sector, and commercial innovation are essential to invest in innovative solutions for critical ocean observation.