Tag: OceanShot

Earlier this month, Dr. Cheryl Ames participated in a highly productive and collaborative meeting in Nice, France, from June 6-8, 2025. This important gathering provided a crucial platform for engaging with international colleagues and advancing the strategic planning for the groundbreaking Ocean Shot Research Grant.

As a Unit Leader at WPI-AIMEC and a co-leader of the selected Ocean Shot project, Dr. Ames was a key figure in the discussions. The project, officially titled “Discovery in the largest frontier: advanced imaging and genomics of open ocean animals,” recently secured $2.75 million USD for a three-year research period, set to begin in 2025. This significant funding was awarded by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s Ocean Policy Research Institute under its Ocean Shot Research Grant program.

“This is an exciting opportunity to bring marine science researchers together from around the globe to explore the ocean using innovative genomics and imaging approaches. I look forward to seeing all the new species we will discover!”

_{^{— Dr. Cheryl Ames}}

For comprehensive details on the Ocean Shot Research Grant, its team, and scientific objectives, please visit the original announcement on the WPI-AIMEC news page: https://wpi-aimec.jp/en/news/2207/]

In February 2025, the proposal entitled “Discoveries at the Greatest Frontiers:
Advanced Imaging and Genomics of Pelagic Animals,” submitted by WPI-AIMEC Unit
Leader Prof. Cheryl Ames (Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University)
with Ocean Shot team leader Jan Hemmi University of Western Australia, together with
Karen Osborn of the University of Western Australia and Smithsonian National
Museum of Natural History, and Kakani Katija of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute, was selected for the Ocean Shot research grant program by the Sasakawa
Peace Foundation’s Ocean Policy Research Institute.

Ocean Shot was established to provide large-scale support for the discovery of marine
species and the development of new technologies that drive these discoveries.
Through this selection, the team will receive 2.75 million USD for their proposed 3-year
research project starting in 2025.

This research project focuses on the midwater zone, located between the ocean
surface and the deep sea. Despite being estimated to harbor over 90% of Earth’s
biodiversity, this light-limited region is one of the least explored ecosystems due to its
inaccessibility. By employing imaging, genomics, eDNA, and AI technologies in
dedicated research cruises, the project aims to develop a comprehensive database of
marine organisms. Through collecting, curating, compiling and disseminating multiple
data types, the project aspires to bring to light the scale of midwater biodiversity,
evolutionary processes, and environmental changes on a global scale.