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National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) conduct and support research, monitoring, assessment, and technical assistance for managing coastal ecosystems and society's use of them. These activities fit within a framework of five environmental stressors:
NCCOS activities are focused in:
There are five NCCOS centers and two research labs. The centers' many research activities include projects to understand the causes and consequences of harmful algal blooms, to predict how climate change may affect our lives, and to determine the complex factors that affect fish habitats. NCCOS conducts research ranging from the study of biomolecular changes due to coral bleaching, to the causes of shellfish disease, to modeling the effects of climate change on fisheries stock assessment. The research is broad, multi-disciplinary, geographically diverse, and involves many partners. NCCOS's goal is to improve the scientific basis upon which coastal managers make decisions.
Roles of the Centers The Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR), located in Silver Spring, Maryland, funds research to help decisionmakers meet the challenges of managing our nation's coastal resources by examining issues in the nation's estuaries, coastal waters, and Great Lakes. CSCOR translates its findings into information for coastal managers, planners, lawmakers, and the public. Its aim is to improve environmental decisions affecting the coastal ocean and its resources. Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML), is also located in Charleston, and is one of five NCCOS centers. It is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary center, and includes scientists from the National Ocean Service, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the University of Charleston, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Medical University of South Carolina. HML provides science and biotechnology applications to help sustain, protect, and restore coastal ecosystems, emphasizing links between environmental and human health.
Roles of the Research Laboratories
Cooperative Oxford Laboratory (COL), is located in Oxford, Maryland. Here scientists investigate the role of disease in the distribution, abundance, marketability, and edibility of marine animal resources. COL also works to determine the influence of natural and human-made environmental factors on the occurence and persistance of diseases, and explore the use of developing and applying histopathological, clinical, biochemical, and microbiological approaches to study diseases of shellfish, marine mammals, sea turtles, and corals. Finally, Kachemak Bay Laboratory is located on Kachemak Bay, near Cook Inlet, in Alaska. This newly renovated facility will provide research facilities for scientists from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, NOAA, Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve System, and others. The almost-pristine environmental conditions in that area enable research to determine the impacts of human activities, especially changes in land and resource use, on sub-arctic ecosystems. (top) |
Multimedia Presentations from Wavebreaking News Lionfish Established in Atlantic: Summer 2004 Unravelling Dolphin Entanglement Deaths: Spring 2004 Asian Oyster Under Scrutiny for Chesapeake Bay: Spring 2004
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Revised March 05, 2009
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