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Year-over-year, Sea Grant is committed to supporting aquaculture development across the nation, as a means of enhancing economic resilience and nutritional security in American communities. Sea Grant recently developed a five-year Aquaculture Investment Plan to guide its efforts in supporting aquaculture research, extension and education.
Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are increasingly detected in surface water and groundwater, posing risks to the Nation’s drinking waters and aquatic life. Over the last three years, Sea Grant has been building its CEC-focused research portfolio and supporting projects that serve locally-derived information needs.
Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries are pleased to announce the 2023 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship recipients. Seven population and ecosystem dynamics fellowships and one marine resource economics fellowship will be awarded through this national program.
The Sea Grant network, with support from the National Sea Grant Office, will lead a special issue of Oceanography, a quarterly journal of The Oceanography Society. The special issue is planned to be released in Spring 2024.
NOAA Sea Grant is pleased to announce $27 million in projects that will address the prevention and removal of debris in marine and Great Lakes environments throughout the U.S. Using Sea Grant’s partnered approach to bring science together with communities for solutions that work, the projects will support transformational research and the creation of local coalitions to address urgent marine debris prevention and removal needs.
By: Carrie Clower. Each summer, North Carolina Sea Grant offers undergraduate students opportunities to join experts across the state to explore issues affecting local communities.
“As part of National Sea Grant’s Community-Engaged Internship program, they gain hands-on experience with coastal, marine, or Great Lakes issues of environmental, economic, and or social importance,” explains Jane Harrison, NC Sea Grant’s coastal economics specialist.
Through a joint competition with the U.S. Coastal Research Program (USCRP), ten new projects were selected for a total of $3.9 million in funding to translate research into application for communities. Additionally, Sea Grant programs across the nation received an additional total of $4.2 million in NOAA Sea Grant funds to increase local capacity, engagement, research, and implementation for addressing resilience challenges.
Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries are pleased to announce the 2022 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship recipients. Seven population and ecosystem dynamics fellowships and one marine resource economics fellowship will be awarded through this national program. Since 1999, the NMFS-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship program has trained the next generation of specialized experts in fisheries management.
NOAA and Sea Grant are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2023 class of the Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program. The 2023 class represents the largest in recent years with 86 finalists. The 2023 finalists describe themselves in a map of the universities that they hail from, celebrating their different paths to the fellowship.
NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program and Office of Sustainable Fisheries awarded approximately $900,000 of FY21 federal funds to support projects that will initiate “Food from the Sea'' career development programs. With these funds, Sea Grant programs and partners will work collaboratively with members of the fishing industry to identify training needs and develop updated and/or new resources and programming to address those needs.
NOAA Sea Grant and the NOAA Marine Debris Program announce the funding of six new, creative projects to tackle marine debris challenges across the country. This year’s projects focus on preventing the introduction of marine debris into marine, coastal and Great Lakes environments.
Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries are pleased to announce the 2021 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship recipients. Five population and ecosystem dynamics fellowships and two marine resource economics fellowships were awarded through this national program. The fellowships offered within this program are aimed at training the next generation of specialized experts in fisheries management. The program addresses the critical need for future fisheries scientists with expertise in stock assessment and related fields.
NOAA and Sea Grant are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2022 class of the Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program. The 74 finalists in the 2022 class represent 28 of the 34 Sea Grant programs. Since 1979, almost 1,500 fellows have completed the program, becoming leaders in science, policy, and public administration roles.
Mona Behl, the Associate Director for Georgia Sea Grant and a co-lead in Sea Grant’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion community of practice is interviewed by 2021 Knauss Fellow, Amara Davis. Mona discusses her journey to Sea Grant, the important work Sea Grant is doing to make the sciences more equitable, and what we can all do to facilitate a more inclusive future.
For Sea Grant, resilience is more than a buzzword. As a network of 34 university-based programs, Sea Grant brings together experts in coastal processes, hazards, climate change, and urban planning to support cutting-edge research and outreach. Sea Grant is involved in every aspect of climate resilience planning and implementation, from start to finish. Tour some of Sea Grant’s latest projects and on-going efforts to sustain diverse and vibrant coastal economies.
The Knauss Fellowship offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work on marine and coastal policy issues in the nation’s capital. Four alumnae of the Knauss Fellowship share their experiences with science, policy, communication, cultural identity and more, in their own words.
In this video produced by Oregon Sea Grant, three interns talk about their participation in the Oregon Applied Sustainability Experience paid internship program in 2020.
Educators at Georgia Sea Grant’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium are bringing the on-site, outdoor experiences to the classroom for the first time by way of virtual school trips.
In 2020, Sea Grant continued to engage in hundreds of aquaculture-related projects and ongoing efforts, leveraging federal dollars well beyond the federal investment with partnerships and collaborative efforts. This year, several established projects selected in previous years received continued funding, and many new initiatives were launched.
As the country adapts to changes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, coastal and Great Lakes communities, too, are rethinking how to resume what were once normal activities. Sea Grant programs are leading efforts to provide relief to the communities they serve. Read about a few of the initiatives Sea Grant created or enhanced in recent months.
In February 2021, the 42nd class of the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship will begin fellowships across NOAA and other federal agencies to make their mark on national ocean and coastal policy and administration. While the experiences and backgrounds of each class are quite diverse, many selected fellows build on educational experiences offered by NOAA earlier in their careers.
The 74 finalists in the 2021 class represent 27 of the 34 Sea Grant programs. This year’s class includes early career professionals who have diverse backgrounds and experiences. Since 1979, over 1,400 fellows have completed the program, becoming leaders in science, policy, and public administration roles.
When Nicole Bartlett with NOAA’s Regional Collaboration network reached out to Grace Simpkins, an educator with Woods Hole Sea Grant, to ask about offering a webinar for students during the stay-at-home orders, Grace initially wanted to keep things simple. “Maybe [we can offer] one webinar,” she thought. “Okay, maybe three…” Twelve weeks and 35 webinars later, the NOAA Live! 4 Kids series had reached 4,900 live participants, providing opportunities for kids across the country and around the world to interact with scientists and learn about careers at NOAA.
Ten weeks can be fleeting. Even though the days may pass quickly, they can be momentous ones. At Wisconsin Sea Grant this summer, the hope is that for eight undergraduates 70 days will be formative. The eight students are participating in an inaugural internship program targeted toward underserved and indigenous communities, rich in mentoring and, in three of the five opportunities, focused on tribal issues.
Marine debris is a pervasive global problem that touches every corner of our ocean and Great Lakes. Sea Grant, in collaboration with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, recently awarded $350,000 to eight Sea Grant programs for projects that will research, prevent and remove marine debris in US waters.
The Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Program and the Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a series of workshops around the country – in Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana, and Virginia – designed to bring regional priorities to the fore in community oil spill preparation and resiliency planning. Five regional workshop reports and one summary report are now available online.
By Christina Dierkes.
Ohio Sea Grant educators provide a wide range of professional learning experiences for teachers, from developing curriculum and teaching Stone Lab workshops to accompanying teachers from across the Great Lakes region in shipboard science workshops aboard the U.S. EPA’s Lake Guardian research vessel. Educators Lyndsey Manzo and Angela Greene have found new ways to help educators take what they learn back to the classroom, and that’s really the end goal of Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab’s professional learning efforts. Every time just a few people pick up those lessons and run with them, those efforts reach so many more students than concentrated work by just Sea Grant staff ever could.
Pennsylvania Sea Grant, in partnership with the Erie Times News, produces a weekly environmental newspaper page, as part of the national program Newspapers in Education. Stories about local, regional, and global environmental issues, research and educational programs reach students in classrooms throughout the Erie, PA school district each Tuesday during the school year.
The 2020 finalists for the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program will become the 41th class of one of the most prestigious marine policy fellowships in the U.S. The 69 finalists represent 28 of the 34 Sea Grant programs. Since 1979, Sea Grant has provided one-year Knauss fellowships to early career professionals to work in federal government offices in Washington, D.C. to over 1,300 early professionals.
NOAA recently awarded New Jersey Sea Grant funding to plan and host an event focused on workforce development for the field of fisheries population and ecosystem dynamics. The program is a partnership effort supported by Sea Grant, NOAA’s Office of Education and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) aimed at engaging undergraduate students in the specialized field of population and ecosystem dynamics, which combines science with mathematics for science-based management of U.S. fisheries.
The sun is shining and the water is calm: what better way to spend a warm summer day than dropping anchor, kicking back and casting a line? Every year, tens of millions of people flock to U.S. coasts to enjoy recreational fishing and boating. Sea Grant supports the recreational fishing and boating enthusiasts and industries by providing resources that teach people learn how to fish and boat, help boaters and anglers determine when and where to go on the water, how to get the most out of their excursions while staying safe, and how to protect the environment so future generations can enjoy the same experiences.
How do people prepare for hurricanes before the season begins? When a hurricane is looming, how do people receive warning, decide to take action, and prepare for the storm? As part of the National Weather Service’s Hurricane Preparedness Week, Sea Grant programs have been highlighting their work that aims to answer these questions. Resources developed by Sea Grant and partners can help communities and individuals prepare for storms well before hurricane season even approaches as well as when a storm is approaching.
Scientist Carrie Garrison-Laney, a coastal hazards specialist for Washington Sea Grant and liason to the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, pieces together stories of past tsunamis in the Pacific Northwest. Understanding the destruction caused by past tsunamis can prepare vulnerable coastal communities for future events.
A Sea Grant team of legal and aquaculture experts has released a report detailing eight case studies that identify challenges to the shellfish aquaculture industry in the United States. The project was funded through Sea Grant’s 2017 national investment in aquaculture.
Sea Grant professionals from across the country will attend the triennial aquaculture conference in March 2019. The conference is a joint meeting of the World Aquaculture Society, National Shellfisheries Association, Fish Culture Section of the American Fisheries Society, and the National Aquaculture Association.
Sea Grant’s 2019 national aquaculture program includes three federal funding opportunities to advance priority project types.
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The National Marine Fisheries Service-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship program supports students pursuing doctoral degrees in population and ecosystem dynamics as well as marine resource economics. The program is a focused workforce development effort to train highly qualified professionals in areas of critical need for NOAA’s science-based approach to fisheries management.
Oregon Sea Grant and NOAA programs partner to offer professional development opportunities for undergraduate students
Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Sea Grant programs along with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management and many tribal and local partners are working together to increase community awareness about the cultural and ecological importance of native wild rice.
Sea Grant works with coastal communities across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Guam to improve community resilience to coastal storms. Sea Grant engages in vulnerability assessments, resilience planning and social science initiatives to learn from previous storms and better prepare for future storms.
Lake Champlain Sea Grant earned the honor as an Institutional Program for demonstrating excellence in research, education and public service dedicated to the environmentally responsible management and development in the Nation’s marine, coastal and Great Lakes resources. As a Sea Grant Institute, Lake Champlain Sea Grant is eligible for additional federal funding and is expected to increase the research portfolio of the program.
Maryland Sea Grant is working to increase environmental literacy by partnering with teachers to bring aquaculture into the classroom.
The event, organized by Alaska Sea Grant and partners, aims to train the next generation of commercial fishermen to help turn the tide on Alaska’s graying fleet, where the average age of a boat captain is now 50.
“By training the next generation of fishers through a hands-on mentorship program, scientists and fishers hope to feed the world for many lifetimes.”
Sea Grant together with the National Marine Fisheries Service are pleased to announce the 2017 NMFS-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship recipients. Six population and ecosystem dynamics
Puerto Rico Sea Grant created a video to promote Healthy Coastal Ecosystems.
USC Sea Grant’s program has a lasting impact on students, enabling them to learn about science and themselves.
In 2016, Puerto Rico Sea Grant staff trained about 205 teachers and reached 38,882 students through improved environmental curriculum.
The Aua transect on Tutuila island in the remote island territory of American Samoa recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, and scientists from throughout the region traveled to the island to celebrate and conduct the 100th year transect survey.
A group of fifth-grade students from Alpena, Michigan created a movie to help everyone understand why marine debris is a problem and to offer ideas about how they can contribute toward solutions.
In a groundbreaking project that empowers at-risk teens and pre-teens, student-driven exploration of aquatic environments through underwater photography and classroom experiences motivate those who may not otherwise feel inspired to participate in the sciences.
For over 28 years, Georgia Sea Grant has been providing recent college graduates with experience in environmental education through the marine education internship at the Marine Education Center and Aquarium.
While looking toward the next 50 years, Sea Grant is revisiting its roots.
“Shipboard Science” provides educators in the Great Lakes basin the opportunity to conduct scientific research activities alongside aquatic scientists and learn strategies to integrate Great Lakes science into their curriculum.
The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium provides multiple opportunities for people of all ages to learn about the challenge of marine debris as well as ways to do something about it.
Nine schools in Los Angeles are raising fish in their classrooms with the help of USC Sea Grant as part of the Food for Thought Aquaponics and Seabass in the Classroom programs.
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium is perfectly situated to facilitate outdoor learning, attracting more than 20,000 students each year.
Workforce Development: High school students in Texas’ Port of Port Arthur learn about the many jobs available in their own community — on land and at sea — to support maritime industries.
South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium funded research on microplastics. The graduate student involved with the project used the findings to inform a new educational program for elementary school students.
South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium and National Estuarine Research Reserves partner to cultivate learning through artistic expression and hands-on ecosystem restoration.
Yale graduate student’s project selected by Connecticut Sea Grant’s 2016 Arts Funding Program
You might say that Tony Murphy’s career took him around the GLOBE and back.
Recreational boating is a popular summertime activity in many states that can impact water quality. New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium works with boaters and marinas to minimize these impacts and assist businesses who wish to implement best management practices.
Sponsored and run by Oregon Sea Grant, “Shop the Dock” is entering its third summer of offering free, guided educational tours of Newport’s commercial fishing docks. Shoppers learn a bit about the fisheries, meet the people who catch the fish, and have an opportunity to buy the freshest salmon, tuna, halibut and crab, usually at prices lower than they’d find at their local supermarkets.
The University of Guam Sea Grant is active in multiple projects focusing on watershed education, including Builders of a Better Bay in Guam and Biib's Kids in Palau.
In May 2015, Delaware Sea Grant launched a series of short format videos, 15 Second Science, aimed at promoting engaging, shareable content on social media.
Commercial fishing can be a dangerous job. Thanks to Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium Extension agents, 200 sailors have been trained as marine safety instructors. The training recently helped save two fishermen in a collision.
Using modeling techniques, students discover how coastal dunes form and how they can protect coastal areas from erosion and flooding during storms and harsh weather events. Students will make predictions and observations, then come to their own conclusions about the importance of dunes and how they can make coastal areas more resilient against storms.
In this activity students will build a model of a salt marsh and the land surrounding it out of clay. Students will use this model to see what happens to salt marshes when the sea level rises and how the slope of the land and the location affect the marshes survival.
Students study the essential parts of the Cape American Beach Grass Ammophila breviligulata and discover the basic necessities for plant survival.
The Dune It Right manual explains dune ecology. This tool is for anyone undertaking a dune restoration or rehabilitation project. It explains what species uses what parts of the beach, how to avoid damaging habitat and how to avoid creating a monoculture.
Many leaders in Maryland have highlighted the importance of developing oyster aquaculture in the state: this industry supports local working waterfronts and also helps the state’s struggling seafood industry. Maryland Sea Grant Extension helped to bring about changes in state policy to make it easier for residents to obtain leases for aquaculture operations in Chesapeake Bay, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs. To help them pursue those opportunities, Maryland Sea Grant Extension and its partners have developed a number of programs that help shellfish growers to obtain start-up funding for these ventures and to build and operate them successfully.
Maryland Sea Grant produced a nine-minute online video documentary that describes scientific research about the causes of rising seas in the Chesapeake Bay region.
The introduction of aquatic invasive species to Chesapeake Bay, transported through the ballast water of cargo ships or by live animal and plant trades, can bring ecologically harmful consequences. To safeguard local ecosystems, Maryland Sea Grant supports programs that seek to prevent the establishment of new invasive species in the region.
Maryland and other states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are currently engaged in a multi-billion dollar effort to improve water quality by meeting Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) targets for nutrients and sediments. To accomplish this, municipalities around the region need help from trained and dedicated volunteers who can implement watershed restoration practices. Such practices include stormwater management tools like rain gardens and barrels.
Part of the Florida Water Access site, the Beaches Toolkit contains an outline of common law tools for addressing public beach access, as well as resources for public and private managers of beachfront property.
Part of the Florida Water Access site, the Boating Toolkit contains legal information about rights of navigation, anchoring and mooring, boating laws and regulations, derelict vessels and conservation.
This site discusses both the Florida Clean Marina Program, the Florida Clean Vessel Act Program and the available funding opportunities.
The Clam Farm Benefit Calculator allows Florida clam growers to make a simple estimation of the environmental benefits their farms provide annually to coastal waters.
This site provides answers for homeowners regarding flood insurance costs, purchasing flood insurance and ways to reduce insurance premiums.
NOAA’s Coastal Storms Program is collaborating with Sea Grant and others to improve safety for Great Lakes beach-goers.
Great Lakes Sea Grant programs and a network of Great Lakes-region partners are promoting a new water safety campaign, Be Current Smart.
Federal, state, and local partners come together to discuss the forecasting and communication of rip currents and other coastal hazards on the eve of beach season.
New York Sea Grant is asking people along Lake Ontario and North Sandy Pond to share stories and photos of storm events to help local communities better assess risk, build storm resiliency, and reduce future storm damage and recovery expenses.
As Hurricane Season begins, Sea Grant continues to prepare coastal communities for hurricanes and coastal storms. Learning from past events, Sea Grant aims to strengthen the resilience of infrastructure and empower coastal residents.
Making yourself hurricane-proof is a deliberate act. Residents of storm-prone areas need a plan and to be able to execute it. The Homeowners Handbook helps individuals make their families and homes more resilient.
Ohio Sea Grant and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will expand the Ohio Clean Marinas and Clean Boater programs statewide in 2015.
Sea Grant works with coastal communities to ensure that boaters on the water for fun and for work are knowledgeable and out of harm's way.
A collaborative, Sea Grant social science effort has led to the development of a website that guides fishermen through the process of entering alternative markets, bringing them closer to the consumer.
With the summer season fast approaching, New York Sea Grant offers safe boating tips and gives a sneak peak at its related campaign, which, now in its ninth season, has reached over a half-a-million people.
To reduce the spread of aquatic invasive species, a project led by Maryland Sea Grant educated fishers to properly dispose of the seaweed packaging used to ship blood worms.
Community leaders, decision-makers, and staff need detailed knowledge of the resources their community possesses in order to make informed planning decisions that enhance the community while protecting the quality of the environment. Developed in partnership with Clemson University’s Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, the S.C. NEMO Program, Carolina Clear, and the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Community Resource Inventory provides an atlas of natural and cultural resources available in South Carolina coastal communities.
Reduced river flows during drought threaten fresh water supplies in coastal areas because the lower flows allow the salt water wedge to penetrate further inland from estuaries than is normal. During droughts over the past decade, some coastal drinking water systems and industries monitored threats to fresh drinking water and industrial water intakes due to this salinity intrusion; some have even had to periodically take intakes offline due to high salinities that can damage drinking water treatment systems and industrial equipment. To help decision-makers understand how the frequency of salt water intrusion events may change under future precipitation and sea level scenarios, the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments center at the University of South Carolina, and the USGS S.C. Water Science Center adapted an existing decision support system for salinity intrusion in the coastal Yadkin-Pee Dee river basin by adding climate model-based precipitation scenarios and increments of sea level rise to the Model 2 (PRISM2) decision support tool. This modification is significant in that it allows water managers to explore how often salt-water intrusion events may occur in the Yadkin-Pee Dee River basin under conditions influenced by ongoing and future climatic change.
Many coastal decision-makers lack the expertise, guidance, and resources to implement low impact development (LID) techniques for mitigating stormwater impacts. The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium assisted with the development of an LID manual specific to coastal South Carolina that provides guidance on overcoming barriers to implementing best management practices. The project team organized stakeholder workshops, research roundtables, and provided technical assistance with the development of the guide.
Many residents of South Carolina and beyond aspire to live at the beachfront. To better prepare people seeking beachfront homes (as well as those already enjoying life at the beachfront) regarding specific hazards and regulations, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, with significant contributions from the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, has produced the South Carolina Guide to Beachfront Property. Included is information on typical hazards homeowners are likely to face (hurricanes, erosion, flooding, wind, and earthquakes), insurance information, and important state regulations regarding construction and renovation practices.
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.
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.
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.
Experts at New York Sea Grant discuss issues, and potential solutions between communication and the decision process as they relate to extreme weather events.