Two major impediments to conserving marine ecosystems are (1) a lack of understanding of the basic processes governing the essential features of these systems and (2) ineffective transfer of new scientific knowledge to the public and to policy makers. Recent breakthroughs in numerous disciplines have made possible larger spatial- and temporal-scale studies and new syntheses across disciplines -- all of which show much promise for providing better guidance for management and conservation. For example, although it is recognized that marine reserves will play a key role in marine conservation efforts, basic information about the natural transport of organisms and materials in and out of reserves is not yet in hand -- but is within reach.

Achieving a new integration across scientific disciplines and between science and policy will require new institutional and educational models. The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) is an integrated Consortium of four premier academic programs. Our collective expertise is being used to develop critical new cross-disciplinary methodologies for marine ecological research. These new methods then are applied to a broad-scale research program that is immediately relevant to marine conservation, policy, and management. The Consortium is predicated on the assumption that research, training, and policy should be intimately linked, not separate activities.