International conference support: Biological modifications of the seabed and sediment-water interactions

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This award would provide partial support for an international workshop, entitled "Biological modification of the seabed: biogeochemical and ecological processes in a changing world," to be held in August 2017 at Stonybrook University. This would be the fifth in a series of conferences on seafloor processes, held every three years, and the first to be held in North America. The primary purpose of the conference is to communicate and promote cutting edge research on the uppermost layers of ocean sediments, and how animals that live there affect physical, chemical, and biological processes. NSF funding would support travel costs for invited speakers and the participation of ten early career researchers. Bioturbation of the seabed plays a central role in aquatic elemental cycling and as a determinant of biological productivity, particularly in coastal regions where sedimentary deposits are in close proximity to the photic zone. Bioturbation processes are critical for dealing with practical coastal management issues and making quantitative prediction of the impacts of ocean acidification, dredge spoil disposal, and dynamics of harmful algal blooms in coastal regions. The conference will provide a venue where established investigators at the forefront of their research areas, early career researchers, and advanced students can interact both formally and informally. A subset of contributions from the conference will be published in The Journal of Marine Research following external review and will be posted on publicly accessible websites. Abstracts of all presentations will be publicly available on the conference website.