Oceanography Vol. 21, No.4 18 Coastal Ocean Processes Program control ecosystem character and cross- margin transport of materials. It was recognized at the inaugural workshop that to understand the extremely diverse and variable coastal ocean requires a strategic framework. Simply put, it is not possible to study all coastal regions on all required scales. Te organizing assumption defning the CoOP strategy has been that a fnite set of dominant processes controls the basic character- istics of coastal environments. Tese processes occur in diferent mixtures at diferent locations and at diferent times, resulting in the observed variabil- ity of coastal ecosystems. CoOP’s goal has been to promote process-oriented research at selected locations that dif- fer in their relative mix of controlling processes. Integration of individual observations provides fundamental SPECIAL ISSUE ON COASTAL OCEAN PROCESSES INTRODUCTION BY RICHARD A. JAHNKE, MICHAEL R. ROMAN, AND KENNETH H. BRINK insight into coastal processes and process interactions applicable to many coastal settings. Within the strategic frame- work and emphasizing technology development, CoOP has conducted a series of focused research projects in coastal regions where forcing factors controlled the character and transport processes to difering extents (Roman, 1998). CoOP’s interdisciplinary projects have examined the efects of physical forcing on inner-shelf larval transport, air-sea momentum fuxes, episodic transport in the Laurentian Great Lakes, wind-driven transport in coastal Oregon and northern California waters, and buoyancy-dominated transport efects of the Columbia and Hudson Rivers. CoOP’s fnal research projects, which are still underway, focus on the Coastal ecosystems provide major research challenges because of the diver- sity of their environments and habitats and their high spatial and temporal vari- ability. Te magnitude of mass exchanges and organism populations, and the proximity of coastal systems to human populations, necessitate an improved understanding of these ecosystems. Because of the complexity and, in many cases, interdependency of interactions, signifcant advancement requires a holis- tic, interdisciplinary approach. To meet these research challenges, the Coastal Ocean Processes (CoOP) program has promoted interdisciplinary coastal research for nearly two decades. Developed through a series of com- munity workshops (cf. Brink et al., 1990, 1992), CoOP was organized around physical forces and boundaries that Advancing Interdisciplinary Research and Technology Development Tis article has been published in Oceanography, Volume 21, Number 4, a quarterly journal of Te Oceanography Society. Copyright 2008 by Te Oceanography Society. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to copy this article for use in teaching and research. Republication, systemmatic reproduction, or collective redistirbution of any portion of this article by photocopy machine, reposting, or other means is permitted only with the approval of Te Oceanography Society. Send all correspondence to: info@tos.org or T e Oceanography Society, PO Box 1931, Rockville, MD 20849-1931, USA.