COASTAL-SOS, Coastal Zones Under Intensifying Human Activities and Changing Climate: A Regional Programme Integrating Science, Management, and Society to Support Ocean Sustainability, is an endorsed initiative of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, led by the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science (MEL) at Xiamen University. The project is dedicated to empowering youth and early career ocean professionals (ECOPs) in interdisciplinary research, encouraging engagement at local and regional scales. COASTAL-SOS aims to foster collaboration with cross-sectoral stakeholders across East Asia, driving advancements in scientific understanding and skill-building in critical coastal ocean health issues. The Upper Gulf of Thailand stands as a flagship site for multidisciplinary research, providing a model to tackle complex issues including eutrophication, hypoxia, and ocean acidification. The site itself is an area of land-sea continuum spanning the Central Plain and the Gulf. COASTAL-SOS Thailand is a collaborative initiative established with the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Currently, four early career ocean professionals are leading various research aspects relevant to biological, geological, chemical, and physical oceanography. The team is in the first phase (2023-2026) of a project entitled, “Study on Anthropogenic and Climate Change Impacts on Coastal Deoxygenation in the Inner Gulf of Thailand in Support of the COASTAL-SOS Program Endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science.” Funded by Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI), this research addresses the urgent issue of eutrophication in Thai waters, aiming to deliver actionable scientific insights to inform policy and decision-making. This project highlights the critical role of ECOPs in driving interdisciplinary solutions to regional ocean challenges and emphasizes capacity-building and collaborative leadership as key elements for sustainable ocean management. In this presentation, we will address the key milestone and activities in this project and highlight the journey we took before coming together as a team of early career scientists working on this complex environmental issue.

COASTAL-SOS,Thailand,Eutrophication,hypoxia,Ocean Sustainability,Marine Science Networking