Who came up with the idea for a Census of Marine Life?
During the late 1990’s, several leading marine scientists shared their concerns with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that humanity’s understanding of what lived in the oceans lagged far behind our desire and need to know more. The Sloan Foundation was the first entity to provide these diverse scientists with support to come together and develop a strategy that addressed their concerns: conducting a worldwide census to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life—past, present, and future. The 10-year Census of Marine Life officially began in 2000.
