NOAA 03-465
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ben Sherman
10/29/03
 NOAA News Releases 2003
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NOAA COASTAL SERVICES CENTER AWARDS OVER $15 MILLION
TO COASTAL OBSERVATION PROJECTS

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coastal Services Center (CSC) has awarded over $15 million in grants to 16 projects in 18 states that will promote the development or expansion of regional coastal ocean observation systems. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“NOAA and the Bush Administration are working to improve the understanding of our environment and to strengthen regional initiatives such as the programs awarded funds by our Coastal Services Center,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph. D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “These grants will help this vital research effort in ocean and coastal observing continue as we seek to establish an integrated global ocean observing system.”

In coastal states from Alaska to South Carolina, the 16 grant-funded projects focus on helping coastal regions collect oceanographic information, share data and organize regional networks of observing systems. The information from these projects aims to help ocean scientists and coastal resource managers with advancing the technology used for coastal observations, developing models for predicting storm surges, characterizing the health of ecosystems and coordinating regional efforts.

The grants are part of the Center’s Coastal Observation Technology System (COTS) and are to help develop and integrate regional coastal ocean observation systems.

“The grant recipients are working side-by-side with NOAA to continue the development of regional coastal ocean observing systems based on their combined knowledge, expertise, and efforts,” said Margaret Davidson, Coastal Services Center Director. “The projects funded by COTS grants work to develop the capacity for regions to collect and share ocean observations cooperatively and in support of a national integrated coastal and ocean observing system.”

The NOAA Coastal Services Center has dedicated over $24 million in grants to coastal observation projects. The Center works to support the environmental, social and economic well being of the coast by linking people, information and technology. The Center is part of NOAA’s National Ocean Service that provides integrated global leadership in the management of the oceans.

NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants annually to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to help agency in its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 33 years.

The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (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 the nation’s coastal and marine resources.
The 16 projects are:

  • Alaska – The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council was awarded $750,000 for its Gulf
    of Alaska Ecosystem Monitoring and Research Program that collects long-term marine-related observations from the northern Gulf of Alaska.
  • The Seward Association for the Advancement of Marine Science was awarded $100,000 for regional coordination projects.
  • California – The California State University’s Moss Landing Marine Lab was awarded $1
    million for its California Center for Integrative Coastal Ocean Research that will produce nationally relevant solutions to challenges facing our marine and estuarine environments.
  • The University of California at Santa Cruz Institute of Marine Sciences was awarded $2 million for its Center for Integrated Marine Technologies, which will link new technologies across disciplines of marine science to address key questions for marine resource managers.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute was also awarded $100,000 for regional coordination projects.

  • Great Lakes – The Great Lakes Commission, headquartered in Michigan, was
    awarded $109,923 for regional coordination projects in the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes.
  • Maine – The Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System was awarded $470,000 for
    regional coordination projects.
  • Maryland – The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science was awarded
    $3 million for its Alliance for Coastal Technologies program that provides critical information on the latest, best, innovative and most efficient technologies for monitoring and predicting the state of coastal waters.
  • New Hampshire – The University of New Hampshire Sea Grant program was awarded
    $2.5 million for its Coastal Ocean Observing and Analysis program that will develop and implement new methodologies and approaches for coastal ocean observing, focusing on the end-to-end process.
  • North Carolina – The University of North Carolina at Wilmington was awarded $1.2
    million for its Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program which provides an interdisciplinary science-based, user-defined framework that supports sound public policy for coastal use, sustainable fisheries and improved coastal ocean ecosystem health.
  • South Carolina – The University of South Carolina Belle Baruch Institute was awarded
    $2.5 million for its Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System, which establishes the capacity to monitor and model estuarine and coastal ocean conditions in the Carolinas.
    The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium also was awarded $98,979 for regional coordination projects.
  • Texas – The Texas A&M Research Foundation was awarded $106,143 for regional
    coordination projects.
  • Virginia – NOAA, NASA, and the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology were
    awarded $1.4 million for their Wallops Ocean Observation Project which researches coastal-related phenomena in support of flight satellite instrumentation development and NASA missions.
  • Washington State – The University of Washington was awarded $100,000 for regional
    coordination projects.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

National Ocean Services: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/

NOAA Coastal Services Center: http://www.csc.noaa.gov

U.S. Coastal Observing Systems: http://www.csc.noaa.gov/coos/