Sea Grant Highlights: November 2018

November 30, 2018

Stories from around the Sea Grant network

With so much awesome work happening within Sea Grant, it can be hard to keep up! Here’s a look back at some of Sea Grant highlights you may have missed from this month:

News from around the Sea Grant network

Alaska

Unalaska uses teamwork and technology to save whales: Alaska Sea Grant assisted with an effort to free an entangled humpback whale.

North Carolina

Living shorelines can enhance saltmarsh resilience to hurricanes: a Sea Grant-funded graduate student researcher found that living shorelines made salt marshes more resilient to Hurricane Matthew.

Ohio

Ohio Sea Grant releases summary of third year of Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative project

Pennsylvania

Nature enthusiasts and wildlife to benefit from statewide investment: Pennsylvania Sea Grant and the Lake Erie Region Conservancy were awarded grants to conserve 270 acres of land, protect critical wildlife habitat, and provide over 6,000 feet of stream access for anglers.

Texas

Texas Sea Grant Director Dr. Pamela Plotkin recognized as Skip the Plastic’s November Bag Hero

University of Southern California

USC Sea Grant trains the next generation of seafloor mappers

Virginia

As waters rise, so do opportunities: Virginia Sea Grant participated in the sixth annual meeting of the Virginia Coastal Policy Center which opened with a discussion of the challenges facing Virginia and concluded with promises of action from Governor Ralph Northam, who signed an executive order to increase the state’s resiliency.

Opportunities

2019 NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship: The application process is now open for the joint NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-Sea Grant fellowship. These fellowships are available to graduate students enrolled in Ph.D. degree programs at academic institutions in the United States and territories. Interested applicants should check out the NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowships page.

Special projects announcement: Sea Grant, NMFS, and the NOAA Office of Education anticipate funding a cooperative agreement to develop one or more Undergraduate Population and Ecosystem Dynamics Workshops. Applications are due January 23, 2019, and an informational webinar will be held December 18, 2018. More info.

Applications for the 2019 NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship Program are due to Sea Grant programs by January 18, 2019. More info.

As always, check out the Sea Grant careers page and follow Florida Sea Grant’s weekly Jobs Roundup for more opportunities.

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Group of people removing ghost nets from a beach.

Alabama

Biden-Harris administration invests $27 million to support community-driven marine debris solutions through Investing in America agenda

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $27 million in funding for projects to prevent and remove marine debris in coastal and Great Lakes communities as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This funding will support innovative research and foster local coalitions to address urgent marine debris issues by using NOAA Sea Grant’s partnered approach to bring science together with communities for solutions that work.

Shoring up the future, together: Collaborative efforts in coastal resilience across the Mid-Atlantic

Community members and city leaders gathered during a listening session to identify key climate readiness needs in Erie, Pennsylvania during June of 2023. (Photo by

Biden-Harris Administration invests $60 million to build a climate-ready workforce through Investing in America agenda

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $60 million in funding to help train and place people in jobs that advance a climate-ready workforce for coastal and Great Lakes states, Tribes and Territories as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda under the Inflation Reduction Act. To date, awards like these from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda have created more than 270,000 jobs across the country.

The funding will support nine projects around the nation, with $50 million going directly to the projects and $10 million for technical assistance to support the grantees.