The Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) relies on international collaboration to share data and understand the global impacts of ocean acidification (OA). GOA-ON membership extends across disciplines, countries, socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity.

Pier2Peer is a scientific mentorship program that matches senior researchers with early career scientists to facilitate an exchange of expertise and to provide a platform for international collaborations.

Pier2Peer partnerships provide a number of professional development opportunities, including technical guidance on experiments and study design, exchange of scientific articles, access to information about capacity building workshops, conferences, post-doc positions, and much more!

Pier2Peer approaches capacity development with principles that focus on user needs at the local, regional, national, and international levels.

The program officially launched during the 3rd GOA-ON Science Workshop in Hobart, Australia, May 2016.

Any GOA-ON member who is an experienced or senior-level scientist and is actively engaged in ocean acidification research is encouraged to become a Pier2Peer mentor. A Pier2Peer mentor should be willing to regularly communicate with their mentee and should be invested in their mentee’s professional growth. Pier2Peer mentors should also be excited about the opportunity to work with mentees whose backgrounds or experiences may be different from their own.

When new mentors register for the Pier2Peer Program, their information will be used to generate mentor profiles. A mentor profile will consist of biographical data, information about a mentor’s research focus and expertise, links to a mentor’s ResearchGate profile and/or lab website, and a photo. Each month, a compilation of profiles from all newly registered mentors will be uploaded to this website. Mentors who are already in the Pier2Peer Program and have indicated their willingness to accept additional mentees will also be added to this list. When mentors are successfully paired with a mentee, their information will be removed from the list. The most recent list of available mentors can be found above.

When new mentees register for the Pier2Peer Program, they will be directed to the list of available mentors and asked to rank up to three possible mentors with whom they would like to work. By giving new mentees the opportunity to browse the profiles of available mentors, they can identify individuals whose interests, skills, and expertise are most aligned with their specific needs.

The Pier2Peer Coordinator will then use all of the information gathered from the mentors and mentees to suggest new pairs. Participants will be notified of their match via an email containing the name, contact information, and country of their partner. Mentors and mentees are always welcome to request an alternate or additional partner. Furthermore, when mentees feel that they have gained enough experience, they are encouraged to become mentors themselves and continue growing the network of Pier2Peer partnerships.

The need for additional ocean acidification monitoring and research capacity has been well established by the scientific community. The Pier2Peer Program meets this need by pairing experienced researchers with early-career scientists, facilitating the transfer of knowledge, skills, and data, and ultimately expanding the community of professionals capable of monitoring and studying OA. The Pier2Peer Program also builds capacity in a number of other ways:

Trainings: In partnership with GOA-ON, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s OA International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and The Ocean Foundation (TOF), the Pier2Peer Program occasionally offers concentrated, in-person trainings that are hosted by highly skilled scientists in world premier OA laboratory settings.

Scholarships: In partnership with The Ocean Foundation (TOF), the GOA-ON Pier2Peer Program offers scholarships to facilitate collaborative projects between mentor-mentee pairs. To be eligible to apply, mentor/mentee pairs must be (1) officially matched in the Pier2Peer program AND (2) active within Pier2Peer for two years or less. The primary purpose of these scholarships is to enable mentees to design and implement high-quality monitoring and research projects in partnership with their mentors. Awards range from $5,000 - $7,500 USD are available and offered twice a year. For more information, please contact the Pier2Peer coordinator at carly.laroche@noaa.gov or Alexis Valauri-Orton and Kaitlyn Lowder at IOAI@oceanfdn.org.

The Pier Review: The Pier2Peer Program fosters community among participants by distributing a monthly newsletter. This newsletter, known as the Pier Review, showcases the accomplishments of Pier2Peer pairs and shares news, updates, funding and job opportunities, and recently published open-access publications. Past issues can be found below.