Graduate Research Fellows are required to submit Semi-annual Progress Reports to NOAA's Estuarine Reserves Division in Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) via https://grantsonline.rdc.noaa.gov. Reports must be submitted within 30 days of the completion of each six month period of the award. If the project is extended for a period less than 6 months, an additional Progress Report should be submitted at the end of the extension period. Semi-annual Progress Reports should not exceed two pages in length. The following format must be followed:  
 
1)      Fellow's name and date of report (Note: Fellows must provide a copy of this report to their graduate advisor and to the Research Coordinator at the host Reserve)

2)      Time period covered by this report:

3)      Expected graduation date  
 
4)      Fellow's address (indicate if this is updated contact information)

5)      NOAA Award Number

6)      Research Project Title

7)      NERR site(s): List host Reserve, along with all other relevant Reserves if research involves more than one site

8)      Starting and ending dates of reporting period (e.g., June 1, 2012 - November 30, 2012)

9)      Project description: A short description of the fundamental research activities that were supported by the Graduate Research Fellowship during the performance period, and the expected outcomes and/or applications of the work.

10)      Research progress and adherence to proposed research plan and timeline: Statement of whether or not the project is meeting its milestone schedule and brief description of research activities accomplished to during this six months of funding. Please include whether there have been any alterations to the procedures or focus of research as was originally described in the funded GRF proposal (Note: If the milestone schedule is not being met and/or if significant changes to the originally funded research procedures or focus have occurred, a brief explanation is required)

11)      Professional development and service to the NERRS:  Provide a brief (1-2 paragraphs) description of the activities you have completed to fulfill the agreed upon service component of your GRF award (see Special Award Conditions).  Include activities and interactions that support your GRF research as well as those that occur with the Reserve's Research, Stewardship, Education, or Coastal Training Programs.  If none have occurred during this reporting period, please provide a plan including timeline for meeting this award requirement.

12)      Full citations for manuscripts or reports that resulted from, or involve this fellowship. Note: include full citation for any manuscripts that are published or in review during this six month period. Electronic copies of all publications should be included.

13)      Dates, venue, and title of any presentations or seminars that were made during this six month period, and that resulted from or involved this fellowship. Include teacher training workshops, community forums and festivals, volunteer training, coastal training program (CTP) presentations and all activities that disseminate information related to the GRF research to a broader audience.

14)      Other notable events, significant research accomplishments, educational publications, news coverage, and posters, etc. related to this fellowship.
 
Please note that no additional subject matter or professional communications, other than those described above, should be included as part of the Semi-annual Progress Report.  Communications related to grant requests (e.g., requests for extensions of research period, re-budget, change of scope etc.) should be directed to the Program Specialist for your grant or the Graduate Research Fellow Program Coordinator.  Additional subject matter or other professional communications can be sent to the National Research Coordinator and/or the Program Coordinator.

Final Report Guidelines
National Estuarine Research Reserve
Graduate Research Fellowships

Final reports are required for all research funded through grants and cooperative agreements by NOAA 's Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.  The purpose of the final report is to describe the activities and summarize the results of the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) project that were funded by the GRF award. Electronic copies of a Master?s thesis or Ph.D. dissertation, and any published documents or reports, as a partial or complete product of the NERRS fellowship, should be submitted as a component of the final report. Note: please send the Estuarine Reserves Division and the Research Coordinator at the hosting Reserve an electronic copy of final theses and dissertations, even if completed after the required timeline. With permission of the fellow, these documents will become part of the GRF Final Report Library and may be posted on a NOAA web site.

Final reports must be submitted through https://grantsonline.rdc.noaa.gov/, and an electronic version must be sent via email (.pdf or MS Word document) or as a CD, to the address listed below, with a copy to the Research Coordinator at the Fellow?s host Reserve. The final report is due 90 days after the expiration of the award. These reports should be submitted to Alison Krepp (Alison.Krepp@noaa.gov); NOAA?s Estuarine Reserves Division; 1305 East-West Highway, N/ORM5; SSMC4, Rm. 10503; Silver Spring, MD 20910.
 
Title page:  The title of the project should be followed by the name and address of the Fellow, the names and addresses of any other collaborators, the date (month and year) of submission, the sponsoring Reserve and all relevant Reserves (if the research involved more than one site), and the grant number.  The title may be different from the title that was associated with the project when the funding application was submitted, as long as it accurately describes the project.
 
Table of contents:  The table of contents should list all the sections and sub-sections as they appear in the text, with the corresponding page numbers. Lists of figures and tables should also be provided.
 
Abstract and key words:  An abstract (one paragraph, 200 words or less) should be included on a separate page.  The abstract should summarize the project, and include the problem statement, methods, results, and conclusions, particularly as they apply to the Reserve's management priorities.  A list of at least three and as many as ten key words should be listed at the bottom of the abstract page. The NERRS GRF focus area(s) that the research most closely supported (i.e., nutrient dynamics and/or effects of non-point source pollution and eutrophication; habitat conservation and restoration; biodiversity and/or effects of invasive species; mechanisms of sustaining estuarine ecosystems; economic, sociological, and anthropological research) should also be identified. Note: The abstract may eventually be included in the Estuarine Reserves Division research synthesis document for the National Estuarine Research Reserves System, and may be posted on the NERRS website (www.nerrs.noaa.gov).  The final report will become part of the GRF Final Report Library.

Text:  The main body of the report should provide a complete and thorough presentation of the work. Specifically, a full description of methods, in-depth literature review, an extensive elaboration of significance of results, and a discussion of the importance to management of marine and coastal resources should be included. The text should be divided into Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Literature Cited, and Acknowledgment sections. Sub-sections may be used where appropriate.

All text should be double spaced. Technical terms, acronyms, and abbreviations should be explained in full when they first occur. Genus and species names should be provided in full when first mentioned, and should be italicized. All measurements should be expressed in SI units, as defined in Standard 1000, SI Units and Recommendations for the Use of their Multiples and Certain Other Units, available through the American National Standard Institute, 1430 Broadway, New York, NY 10018.

Literature cited:  Referenced literature should be cited in the text by author and year of publication (e.g., Smith, 1975).  Multiple citations should be listed chronologically (e.g. Burbank, 1967; Crosby et al., 1990; Crosby and Roberts, 1990; Golde et al., in review).  Journal titles should be abbreviated as recommended in the American Standard for Periodical Title Abbreviations, available through the American National Standard Institute, 1430 Broadway, New York, NY 10018.  Full citations in the Literature Cited section should be listed alphabetically using standard formats for peer-reviewed published literature.
           
Figures and tables:  Figures and tables should be used to clarify text and summarize data. Figures and tables should appear on separate pages that are numbered in sequence with the text. Figures should appear immediately following the page where they are first mentioned.  Each figure or table should be clearly labeled with an appropriate descriptive legend.   
 
Appendices:  Appendices should be used to present relevant tables of data and measurements made during the study. Only summaries of the data should be presented in the text.  In addition, additional materials not appropriate for inclusion in the main text, such as computer programs or model descriptions and documentation, should be appended to the report.  All metadata and summary datasets that were collected or generated by this work should be provided as tables in the appendices.

Publication:  To insure that the results of NOAA?s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM)-sponsored research is accessible by the public and the scientific community, OCRM strongly encourages investigators to submit the results of their work to peer reviewed journals for publication. Manuscripts submitted for publication must acknowledge that the work was supported by a grant from NOAA's OCRM.  The text that may be used for this acknowledgement is, ?This research (or a portion thereof) was conducted in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System under an award from the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
 
An electronic or paper copy of each publication must be provided to OCRM at the address given in the beginning of this document. Electronic copies are strongly preferred. When submitting final reports, Fellows should indicate that they are submitting a manuscript to a journal.
 
Further information
Questions regarding submission of research reports should be directed to Alison Krepp at (301) 713-3155 extension 105 or Alison.Krepp@noaa.gov.