News

2025.6.20

International research project co-led by WPI-AIMEC unit leader Cheryl Ames selected for Ocean Shot Research Grant

The proposal entitled “Discovery in the largest frontier: advanced imaging and genomics of open ocean animals” submitted by WPI-AIMEC Unit Leader Prof. Cheryl Ames (Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University) with team leader Prof. Jan Hemmi University of Western Australia, Dr. Karen Osborn of the University of Western Australia and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and Dr. Kakani Katija of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), was one of only two projects selected under the second call for the Ocean Shot Research Grant program by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s Ocean Policy Research Institute. The team, made up entirely of existing WPI-AIMEC collaborators, will collaborate closely with the other winning proposal led by Dr. John Burns of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences with several international Co-PIs including Dr. Dhugal Lindsay of JAMSTEC X-Star, another WPI-AIMEC collaborator.

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. The team will receive 2.75 million USD for their proposed 3-year research project starting in 2025 which has a strong genomics component led by Prof. Ames’ team.

The research project focuses on the ocean’s midwater zone, located below the sunlit photic zone and the deep seafloor. This light-limited region is one of the least explored ecosystems due to its inaccessibility, yet it is estimated to harbor a large part of Earth’s biodiversity. By employing state of the art 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 and its evolutionary processes on a global scale.