The biennial Ocean Sciences Meeting, an international gathering of more than 4,000 attendees, will be held at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah from February 19–24, 2012. This event is an important venue for scientific exchange across broad marine science disciplines, including physical, biological, chemical and geological oceanography, as well as multidisciplinary topics. Presentations will include emerging research on the global ocean and society, including science education, outreach and public policy. The Ocean Sciences Meeting is sponsored jointly by The Oceanography Society (TOS), the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and the American Geophysical Union (AGU).