Esri Joins the Consortium for Ocean Leadership

REDLANDS, Calif., Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Consortium for Ocean Leadership (Ocean Leadership) has elected Esri, the world leader in GIS, as a member. Chief scientist Dawn Wright will represent Esri by bringing her extensive knowledge of ocean geospatial technology to the consortium. Esri will be participating in an elite group of over 100 world premier oceanographic research and educational institutions, aquariums, and industry partners.

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"The Consortium for Ocean Leadership brings together research, education, and industry entities to advance a shared ocean agenda," said Robert B. Gagosian, president and CEO of Ocean Leadership. "We are very pleased to have Esri join our membership, as its commitment to our oceans and dedication to the development of the frameworks for scientific collaboration will aid us in shaping the future of ocean science through discovery, understanding, and action."

Ocean Leadership shapes the future of ocean science, technology, and education by managing and coordinating programs that involve marine life inventories, ocean observatories, and natural resources management. Centered in Washington, DC, Ocean Leadership is the program office for the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, National Oceanographic Partnership Program, the Interagency Working Group on Ocean Observations, and the Ocean Research and Resources Advisory Panel.

"Ocean Leadership's invitation to Esri to join its oceans efforts is extremely important," said Wright. "Esri was founded on the belief that comprehending the relationships of the earth's systems is integral to the health of the planet. We share the values of Ocean Leadership and look forward to participating in its efforts to advance ocean science and to shape policy for sustainable ocean management."

Consortium members represent some of the nation's most prestigious ocean organizations. The consortium provides community-based scientific advice and recommendations and is widely respected on Capitol Hill as well as in the entire US ocean research and education community. Wright attended the meeting in which Esri was ratified as an Ocean Leadership member on October 25, 2012, in Washington, DC. She will soon be called on to serve on Ocean Leadership committees.

"Successful decision making and effective policy building is based on spatial thinking, spatial data, and spatial methods," said Wright. "Esri's affiliation with Ocean Leadership adds a spatial component that will help drive our nation's initiatives to improve the management of the oceans.

"Membership in Ocean Leadership will advance Esri's Ocean GIS Initiative, which is the company's commitment to developing products and strategic plans for ocean science, resources management, and conservation."

About Esri
Since 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS technology, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at esri.com/news.

About the Consortium for Ocean Leadership 
The Consortium for Ocean Leadership is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization that represents over 100 of the world's leading public and private ocean research education institutions, aquariums, and industries with the mission to advance research, education, and sound ocean policy. The organization also manages ocean research and education programs in areas of scientific ocean drilling, ocean observing, ocean exploration, and ocean partnerships.

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