In 2022, the RESTORE Science Program launched the Gulf Ecosystem Initiative (GEI), a five-year pilot program to support dedicated Gulf of America (formerly Mexico) scientific synthesis in partnership with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). Now entering its fourth year, GEI has yielded critical insights into the unique needs of Gulf researchers and natural resource managers engaging in complex synthesis science.

This presentation will review the strategic rationale for this investment and highlight key outcomes from GEI working groups and postdoctoral scholars. We will explore programmatic successes, including NCEAS's development of targeted facilitation and training in data management, streamlining of the application process, and integrating resource managers into working groups. We will discuss how artificial intelligence is increasingly incorporated into working group practices and how working groups are using it to rapidly complete literature reviews and meta-analyses typically undertaken at the beginning of a project. Concurrently, we will examine barriers to participation identified through applicant feedback, mainly the geographic challenge of NCEAS’s California location and the lack of salary support for researchers. Collectively, the lessons learned from the GEI could serve as a blueprint for the essential characteristics and support structures required to establish a future  Gulf-focused synthesis center.