South Carolina Sea Grant The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, in partnership with the Social and Environmental Research Institute, is working with blue crab fishermen in […]
The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, in partnership with the Beaufort County Planning Department, Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments program, Social and Environmental Research Institute, and North Carolina Sea Grant, provided a participatory opportunity for Beaufort County to begin preparing for flooding associated with sea level rise. The project team utilized several available tools to engage local stakeholders in the process. A focus group participated in the Vulnerability and Consequences Adaptation Planning Scenarios process to identify local consequences of sea level rise and explore potential adaptation strategies. Sea level rise visualizations developed with data from NOAA’s Digital Coast Sea Level Rise Viewer tool helped stakeholders understand the risks of future coastal flooding due to rising seas. Public workshops were held to get broader input on adaptation strategies. A final report has been compiled for consideration by Beaufort County Council. This project has initiated a process of community learning that will increase the capacity of Beaufort County to adapt to sea level rise.
With the vast majority of land-use decisions made at the local level, community officials are instrumental in influencing and directing development and conservation efforts. The S.C. Coastal Communities Initiative is a collaborative land-use planning and water quality small grants program for local decision-makers. The purpose of the Initiative is to assist coastal communities with the development and implementation of land management policies and practices to reduce polluted stormwater runoff, protect local natural resources, and encourage sustainable development. Coastal communities participating in the Initiative are eligible to receive grants ranging from $2500 to $5000 to address a variety of issues related to open space preservation, natural resource-based planning, water quality management, alternative transportation, sustainable community planning and design, and zoning ordinances and regulations.
South Carolina Coastal Communities Initiative Mini-Grants Program Read More>
Forging and maintaining outreach and education partnerships is vital to building and sustaining effective and pertinent outreach programming. The South Carolina Coastal Information Network (SCCIN) enhances coordination of coastal community outreach efforts in South Carolina by avoiding duplication of efforts and minimizing the number of meetings/workshops that community leaders and staff are asked to attend, leveraging scarce resources, and maximizing program benefits and expected outcomes. Through the SCCIN, members strive to provide quality training and educational materials to coastal decision-makers and the public in an effective and efficient manner.
South Carolina Coastal Information Network Read More>
Lake Champlain Sea Grant is partnering with organizations across Vermont to help towns plan and prepare for climate change and flood resiliency.
Building Climate Change Planning Capacity in Lake Champlain Basin Towns Read More>
By incorporating social science into the equation, Great Lakes Sea Grant programs are helping to meet societal needs.
Great Lakes Social Science Network brings the audience into the equation Read More>
A handbook to help Alaska communities, scientists, and agencies implement best practices for new and continuing community-based monitoring programs.
The University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program took the initiative over 10 years ago to form a partnership with the Hawai‘inuiÄkea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and Awaiaulu to help make Hawaiian language newspapers articles from the 1800’s and early 1900’s accessible to the general public.
Ka WÄ Ma Mua, Ka WÄ Ma Hope Read More>
Washington Sea Grant’s hazard specialists expose the dangers on a coast where even the Coast Guard is vulnerable.
Tsunami Preparedness Week 2015 Read More>
A new Coastal Storm Awareness Program study finds that many residents of coastal Connecticut need to be better prepared for the significant safety and economic threats posed by severe coastal storms.
CT Residents Need Better Preparation and Response for Coastal Storms Read More>
A new study announced by California Sea Grant reports on the first seven years of monitoring within four marine protected areas between San Francisco and Morro Bay.
For central California’s marine protected areas, recovery will take time Read More>
Tsunamis have been a reality for coastal communities for as long as humans have lived near the shore. NOAA Sea Grant has been working with coastal communities for many years to help residents understand tsunami risks, reduce their vulnerability and respond quickly.
Tsunami Preparedness Week 2015 Read More>
Sea Grant funded-researchers from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science may have found a positive side to an oyster parasite and its impact on vibrios bacteria.
Sea Grant Researchers Find a Surprising Possible Advantage of Oyster Disease Tolerance Read More>
New York Sea Grant received funding from NOAA's Coastal Storms Program through a Sea Grant competition to study historic storm events along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. The project will create a climatological event database to better assist risk projection to help communities increase their storm event resiliency.
New York Sea Grant is Tracking ‘Great Lakes Nor’easters’ Read More>
Master’s students at the University of Guam receive funding to work on thesis research in areas of sustainable coastal community development.
Guam Sea Grant Fellowships Support Sustainable Coastal Development Research Read More>
While many Sea Grant agents work with commercial fisheries, Sheffield’s role is unique. There are few commercial fisheries in the north of Alaska – the primary fishery there is a subsistence one. A study done on Saint Lawrence Island, in the southern Bering Strait, found that 80 percent of the population ate only subsistence food an average of 5 days per week.
Bowhead Whales, a Unique Community, and One Sea Grant Agent in the Far North Read More>
Dr. John Jacob takes a holistic approach to educating citizens and local officials, noting that the watershed is affected by a wide range of activities from landscaping and other things people do around their homes to large urban planning and habitat protection activities.
Flood Awareness Week: Spotlight on Texas Sea Grant Extension Agent John Jacob, PhD Read More>
David Hart is Assistant Director for Extension with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute and a Senior Scientist with the UW Aquatic Sciences Center. His research and outreach spans geographic information science, urban planning, and coastal management.
Flood Awareness Week: Spotlight on Wisconsin Sea Grant Extension Agent David Hart Read More>
Experts at New York Sea Grant discuss issues, and potential solutions between communication and the decision process as they relate to extreme weather events.
The Science Behind Sandy, Two Years Later Read More>
Georgia Sea Grant has partnered with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia to create the new Georgia Sea Grant Legal Program. This program offers students at University of Georgia School of Law the opportunity to work with legal and policy experts to address challenging environmental questions facing policymakers in coastal Georgia communities.
Georgia Sea Grant launches new legal program Read More>
The Sea Grant network enables NOAA and the nation to tap the best science, technology and expertise to balance human and environmental needs in coastal communities. Here you can search Sea Grant projects, impacts and accomplishment to learn more about our work.
Find Sea Grant Projects, Impacts and Accomplishments using our Public Search Read More>
Is there room on the water for everybody? If coastal communities are to remain sustainable, residents, visitors, policy makers, and regulators need new methods and information sources to harmonize the growing demand for access to their beaches and waterways. Researchers and extension specialists at Florida Sea Grant are making that challenge a priority.
Zooplankton are a key food source in the marine food web and can contain the larvae of commercially important species, such as oysters, crabs and various finfish. Delaware Sea Grant funded researchers are using a new technology to analyze and quantify zooplankton in the Delaware Bay.
Waterproof optical scanner helps researchers capture and catalog zooplankton images Read More>
Connecticut Sea Grant assists aquaculture industry, bringing policy makers and stakeholders together, netting new benefits for ocean crop loss.
Connecticut Sea Grant helps get loss protection for shellfish and seaweed farmers Read More>
This video describes steps some communities are taking to maintain their lifestyles in the face of climate change.
Adapting to Climate Change in Alaska (video) Read More>
Rockfish were overfished in the 1970s and 1990s, and Rockfish Conservation Areas were put in place. Little is known about the species distribution within the conservation areas now. A team put together by California Sea Grant and The Nature Conservancy hopes to better understand the distribution so that resource managers may allow for more fishing opportunities.
Video cameras paint a clearer picture of rockfish recovery Read More>
This manual is for Alaska extension professionals, community organizers, local planning officials, and teachers, whose task is to help individuals, families, businesses, communities, and local governments think through the meaning of climate change on the local scale.
This adaptation tool will help Alaska community residents identify impacts from environmental changes, devise strategies for coping with the changes, and locate resources to help.
Alaska Climate Change Adaptation Planning Tool Read More>
These climate change adaptation resources are useful to community residents and professionals who are planning strategies for adaptation.
Annotated Resources on Climate Change Adaptation for Alaska Communities Read More>
Alaska Sea Grant’s climate adaptation website has links to Alaska-specific climate change fact sheets, videos, Powerpoint presentations, other publications, and websites of other organizations and resources.
Living on Alaska’s Changing Coast: Adapting to Climate Change in Coastal Alaska Read More>
Washington Sea Grant funded scientists help track down a virus involved in what may be the largest marine wildlife epidemic ever seen. Meanwhile, Washington Sea Grant monitors see a surge of healthy young sea stars.
Signs of hope, and a prime suspect, in sea star wasting disease Read More>
Alaska Natives are witnessing climate changing the ecology around their communities. Three southwestern communities are partnering with Alaska Sea Grant researchers to share their traditional hunting knowledge in an effort to conserve their marine environment.
Documenting traditional knowledge from Alaska Native hunters Read More>
The Santa Barbara Area Coastal Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment for Local Communities (SBA CEVALC) is aimed at assisting the Cities of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and Goleta and the County of Santa Barbara in planning for adaptation to climate change. Three of the state's leading ecological and climatological research programs including: the UCSB Coastal Long-Term Ecological Research Project, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and USGS, are accomplishing the project in close collaboration with the three cities and County. Community input is integral to the project with staff from relevant city/county departments participating through workshops and review.
Santa Barbara Area Coastal Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment for Coastal Communities Read More>
Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory agent Terry Johnson and others assisted the village of Shaktoolik with planning and implementing measures to “defend in place” against coastal storms.
Microbeads have drawn a lot of public and political attention since 2012, when researchers from New York and Wisconsin discovered millions of the tiny particles in several Great Lakes. But this new study suggests microfibers may be an even larger concern in at least a few areas.
Plastic fibers emerge as Lake Michigan pollutant Read More>
Are you considering buying property near the water? A new brochure from Woods Hole Sea Grant, Questions and Answers on Purchasing Coastal Real Estate in Massachusetts is now available. This brochure focuses on questions you should ask (and where to find the answers) as a potential purchaser of coastal real estate. This resource provides information about permitting, erosion and erosion control structures, flood insurance, and much more.
The permitting processes for oyster restoration projects can be challenging to navigate, as a maze of state and federal programs may apply. A new legal research report, released by the National Sea Grant Law Center and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program, hopes to make these processes a little more easy to navigate by providing an overview of the permitting programs in 21 states.
New Legal Research Report Provides Overview of State Oyster Restoration Policies Read More>
“I use the skills I gained from my experience as a Knauss fellow on a daily basis in my career. The writing and policy analysis skills that I developed as a fellow have been critical. In addition, while at the Commission, we worked with 16 commissioners with diverse backgrounds to develop a consensus report. The experience of working with a group like that to evaluate stakeholder input, discuss policy ideas and develop recommendations has been valuable.” – Angela Gustavson
’02 Sea Grant Knauss Alum Angela Gustavson Read More>
I use so many of the skills and experiences I gained as a Knauss fellow at my current position. I remained in the Army Corps after my fellowship and I continue to work with many of my former coworkers. I learn new things every day about my agency.
’12 Sea Grant Knauss Alum Emily Vuxton Read More>
“I truly believe the opportunity that I was given as a Knauss Fellow has led to the fact that I have been in D.C. for 10 years. My job in Sam Farr’s office gave me the launching pad for my career that ultimately led to the White House,” – Jessican Maher
’04 Sea Grant Knauss Alum Jessica Maher Read More>
Tipping Points and Indicators, a research and extension program for Great Lakes coastal communities, helps local decision makers identify impacts of land-based activities that threaten the sustainability of ecosystems in their watershed. This program includes a web-based decision support syst​em (tippingpointplanner.org) and facilitated forum to explore policy and management interventions necessary to keep coastal ecosystems from reaching critical tipping points and moving to unstable conditions.
Tipping Points and Indicators Read More>
This National Sea Grant Resilience Toolkit allows people to learn about tools from across the entire Sea Grant network giving users the opportunity to adapt tools for their own local needs. Each entry includes a description of the tools, a link for more information, and a point of contact.
Sea Grant Tools Help Communities Become More Resilient Read More>
The purpose of this assessment tool is to provide community leaders, administrators, planners, engineers, public work directors, and natural resource managers with a simple method in the form of a checklist divided into nine different categories to review their community's particular vulnerabilities to climate trends and to identify priority areas to focus on through planning and projects. The goal of this tool is to help communities in the Great Lakes region identify and address vulnerabilities through education and planning to help reduce the impacts and costs of climate change-related damage through adaptation policies and procedures.
A Community Self-Assessment to Address Climate Change Readiness Read More>
The Watershed Game is an interactive tool that helps community leaders understand the connections between land use, clean water and their community. Participants learn how a variety of land uses impact water and natural resources and learn how their choices can prevent adverse impacts.
Lake sturgeon have been on the planet for 150 million years. Despite that long residency, scientists are still learning about these fish, the largest found in North America. An enduring question is what contributes to their survival skills. Answer: Sound. As one factor anyway.