NOAA 2002-R613 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: David Miller 9 /24/02

NOAA News Releases 2002 NOAA Home Page NOAA Public Affairs

NOAA ANNOUNCES $13.8 MILLION GRANT TO UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded a $13,846,295 grant to the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash., through its Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oceans (JISAO). The grant will be used to support the JISAO program’s core projects including climate variability, environmental chemistry, and estuarine research. JISAO is one of NOAA’s 11 Joint and Cooperative Institutes bringing together the resources of a research-oriented university or institution and the federal science agency. “Through our Joint and Cooperative Institute program we promote collaboration between academic and NOAA researchers, said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This partnership effort enables hundreds of outstanding scientists to work cooperatively with our agency in research relevant to understanding the interaction between the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. NOAA is proud to make this award to the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oceans.” More than 50 specific projects have been identified for funding including the international Argo ocean observing system, Steller sea lion research, submarine hydrothermal vents, essential fish habitat in Alaska, ocean climate observations west of Greenland, an Arctic subarctic ocean flux study, and a moored tropical rainfall analysis. The Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oceans is a cooperative operation between the University of Washington and NOAA. For more intelligence about JISAO please visit http://tao.atmos.washington.edu/. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA, please visit http://www.noaa.gov.