NROC News – monthly news and updates from NROC, its member agencies and partners.

NROC would like you to know –

  • NROC’s winter meeting will be held Wednesday, February 15th at the NH DES office in Portsmouth, NH. See the NROC website for additional details. We hope to see you there!

NROC Partners would like you to know –

  • NOAA Issues RFP for Next Round of Regional Coastal Resilience Grants: NOAA has issued a call for proposals under the federal funding opportunity for the NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program. The program is an integration of two existing grants programs at NOAA: the Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants program administered by NOAA Fisheries and the Regional Coastal Resilience Grants program administered by NOAA’s National Ocean Service.  The estimated $15 million in funding for this program is based on the FY 2016 appropriated funding level. The FFO will consist of two categories of activities: 1) Strengthening Coastal Communities; and 2) Habitat Restoration. Funded projects will advance healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration, as well as support approaches to build resilience of coastal regions, communities, and the economy by developing plans and implementing actions to mitigate the negative impacts of extreme weather and climate-related hazards. Click here for the full FFO (NOAA-NOS-NRPO-2017-2005159) available at grants.gov. Applications are due by March 15, 2017. Award amounts will likely range between $500,000 to $1 million in federal funds. Eligible funding applicants include nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, regional organizations, private (for profit) entities and local, state, and tribal government. More information about the program, including frequently asked questions, can be found here. For additional questions about NOAA’s Coastal Resilience Grants Program, please contact Adam Stein at Adam.Stein@noaa.gov
  • New England Sea Grant Programs Issue 2018-2020 Biennial Call for Proposals: State Sea Grant programs are currently releasing their biennial calls for research proposals for 2018-2020.  Links to the New England Sea Grant Programs’ RFPs are listed here: Maine; New Hampshire; Massachusetts – MIT, WHOI; Rhode Island; Connecticut. Pre-proposals are due between mid-February and early March depending on the individual program and RFP.
  • Community Engagement Announcement for the Next 10-year Federal Ocean Research Plan:  The Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST), under the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), is requesting input on the structure and content of its upcoming 10-year ocean research plan (tentatively titled “Ocean Research in the Coming Decade”). This new Plan will supersede the NSTC’s “Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States for the Next Decade:  An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy,” that was published in 2007 and updated in 2013. The Plan will describe the most pressing research questions and most promising areas of opportunity within the ocean science and technology (S&T) enterprise for the coming decade. It will set the stage for actions across Federal agencies and with non-Federal entities to address societal needs and issues of national importance. Although the formal public input period closed January 1st, the SOST is hosting a number of public meetings and conference panels over the next 8 weeks to provide the public with opportunities to learn more about the Plan and to put forth comments. The New England public meeting will be held February 19th from 1-2pm at the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA. For more information on this, and other scheduled events, visit the plan’s webpage.
  • Save the Date – February 9th – NE Regional Engagement Workshop for the 4th National Climate Assessment: Northeast climate stakeholders are invited to attend a special meeting of the 4th National Climate Assessment (NCA4) on Thursday, February 9th from 8:30am – 5:45pm in the Boston, MA area. This Northeast Regional Engagement Workshop (REW) is an excellent opportunity to provide early and timely input to the NCA4 development process about the ways in which climate change is important to sectors, livelihoods, and landscapes of value to society in the Northeast.  For the purposes of NCA4, the Northeast region includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and West Virginia. A hub and spoke model will be used (primary location with virtually connected satellites) to maximize stakeholder participation. The primary location will be in the Boston area, and there are confirmed satellite locations in Portland, ME at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute; Ithaca, NY at Cornell University; and Huntington, WV at Marshall University.  Additional satellite locations may be secured.  For more information, or to be included on future emails on this topic, contact Katherine Weingartner at KWeingartner@usgcrp.gov. Via Ellen Mecray, NOAA