Our symposium consisted of 12 talks encompassing examples of transdisciplinary science from Alaska to the Caribbean and suggestions, examples, and critiques of educational opportunities for transdisciplinary training. Defining “transdisciplinary” seems of paramount interest, and while I offered a definition from Rosenfield (1992) in my introduction—individuals from multiple disciplines working jointly to create a unified conceptual framework, problem definition, and analytical approach—this definition leaves to interpretation the breadth of transdisciplinary endeavors. Our session identified the need to build new capacities to collaborate among individuals from many disciplines and to gain new technical skills to address emerging problems in marine resource sustainability (e.g., institutional analyses, management strategy evaluation, multi-criteria decision analysis). These needs underscore the importance for new educational programs that can address these opportunities; however, multiple presenters identified institutional impediments that preclude integration across disciplines. It is imperative that graduate students not surrender their disciplinary interests, as the need remains for disciplinary experts on teams of scientists. But, as many of the science talks pointed out, multifaceted problems require transdisciplinary communication, conceptual understanding, and shared methods and analytical approaches to reach tractable solutions. Rosenfield, P.L. 1992. The potential of transdisciplinary research for sustaining and extending linkages between the health and social sciences. Social Science & Medicine 35(11): 1343-57. — Kathryn Sobocinski, Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, [email protected] Read the symposium abstracts here.