Lenfest Ocean Program

About the Lenfest Ocean Program: For more than a decade, the Lenfest Ocean Program has supported peer-reviewed scientific research that informs decisions about the world’s oceans. Our research grants produce impacts far beyond their dollar amounts, generating adaptive recommendations, seeding innovation, and empowering people with information. Our Approach to Grant Making: Our grant-making process begins with investing substantial time into engaging with policymakers, managers, and stakeholders. We seek to better understand their information needs and to identify the research gaps that impede their decisions. Through this process, we are able to target research questions squarely focused on the most important ocean policy and management questions. Next, we engage leading researchers to develop rigorous projects that answer those questions. These projects may be led by a single researcher or by interdisciplinary research teams, depending on the research questions and scientific methods, and they may address issues at the regional, national, or international scale. Connecting Science and Decision-Making: To sustain the connection with policy and management, we continue to involve decision-makers and stakeholders throughout the life of projects. This ensures the researchers stay focused on policy-relevant questions and approaches, and can adjust to any shifts in the policy landscape. And congruently, decision-makers are able to respond to scientific results as they emerge. Through our work, we have become internationally recognized leaders in a range of practices that enhance the usability, relevance and dissemination of scientific research. We continue to adapt and refine these practices, so that our solutions keep pace with the mounting challenges facing the oceans. To learn more about the Lenfest Ocean Program, visit