>>Gulf of Mexico Loop Current and Eddy Observations from HF Radar Systems
>>Award Amount: $1,229,424
>>Project Director: Stephan Howden (University of Southern Mississippi)
>>Project Team Affiliation: University of Southern Mississippi in cooperation with CODAR Ocean Sensors, Shell, and Rutgers University
>>Overview: This project will procure, install, and operate high frequency radar systems to measure surface currents from two offshore platforms at locations in the northeastern most areas of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Data from the systems will provide new, real-time data for model assimilation and validation to better understand the evolution of the LCS.

>>Passive Gulf of Mexico Loop Current Observations from HF Radar Across the Yucatan Strait
>>Award Amount: $844,263
>>Project Director: Anthony Knap (Texas A&M University-College Station)
>>Project Team Affiliation: Texas A&M University-College Station in cooperation with CODAR Ocean Sensors and Rutgers University
>>Overview: This project will procure, install, and operate high frequency radar systems to measure surface currents at two locations in the Yucatan Channel region of the Gulf of Mexico: Isla Contoy and Puerto Morelos. Data from the systems will provide new, real-time data for model assimilation and validation to better understand the evolution of the LCS.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program has announced the appointment of its new Executive Director: Dr. Lauren Alexander Augustine.

Augustine joins the GRP following a variety of roles on a broad range of topics pertaining to water, natural disasters and resilience. Prior to accepting the position, Augustine served as director of the National Academies' Resilient America Program, which supports communities' efforts to build resilience to extreme events using science and diverse stakeholder engagement. Developing disaster and community resilience are an important component of the GRP's mission and Augustine's knowledge and experience in these areas will be valuable in her new role. She earned her B.S. in applied mathematics and systems engineering and her M.S. in environmental planning and policy from the University of Virginia, and her Ph.D. from Harvard University in an interdisciplinary program that combined hydrology, geomorphology and ecology.

"I look forward to building on the foundation of this program's first five years and continuing its evolution it into a flagship program that benefits the people of the Gulf," she said.

The first webinar in the 2019 series from the Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) is titled "What I Wish I Knew When I Was a Graduate Student" with Dr. Paul Montagna and Charles "Si" Simenstad.

This summer and fall, the U.S. coastline was  hit with a wave of harmful algal blooms (HABs). IOOS Regional Associations -- including GCOOS -- are developing new tools to predict HABs events.

While harmful blooms now affect most regions of the country, the blooms vary from region to region -- meaning there is no one-size-fits-all solution. 

The regional structure of IOOS allows for each RA to tailor its approach to the regional capacities, unique environmental conditions, the HAB taxa responsible for blooms, and the needs of the stakeholders. IOOS regions work with federal, tribal, state, academic and other partners to identify the requisite observations, forecast models, data management, and communication.

The IOOS Ocean Technology Transfer Project, a competitive grant program designed for emerging technologies has deployed Environmental Sample Processors and Imaging Flow CytoBots in several regions. These new technologies promise to enhance detection of HABs in near real-time and to provide early warnings of harmful events.

Florida Sea Grant, in conjunction with Monroe County and Erin L. Deady, P.A., will host a free workshop "Sea-Level Rise and Flooding: Planning and Law for Local Governments" in Marathon from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 9, 2019.

The workshop faculty includes local government staff, academics, practitioners and consultants. Registration is required to receive the free lunch that will be provided to attendees. Professional credits for floodplain managers, AICP-certified planners, and attorneys have been applied for and are pending. Receipt of professional credits also requires registration.

The state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is accepting project ideas that Louisiana citizens, governmental bodies and concerned organizations would like to see evaluated and considered for possible inclusion in the next Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast that will be submitted to the Louisiana Legislature in 2023.

All proposals must be delivered electronically, in .pdf format, to [email protected] or mailed to the 2023 Coastal Master Plan Project Development Program at P.O. Box 44027, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70804 and received by March 1, 2019.

The Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Team received the National Superior Outreach Programming Award (SOPA), Sea Grant's highest Extension honor. The team of outreach professionals is based in programs located around the Gulf of Mexico and works to synthesize and share peer-reviewed findings about oil spill impacts for audiences who rely on healthy marine ecosystems for work or play.

Given once every two years by the Sea Grant Extension Assembly, the SOPA award recognizes outstanding success in outreach programming. Regional directors from six geographical areas nominate outreach projects for the award. Winning nominees demonstrate exceptional leadership and teamwork that result in significant impacts and public benefit within the Sea Grant extension mission.

The team includes Oil Spill Science Outreach specialists Larissa Graham (Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant), Chris Hale (Texas Sea Grant), Emily Maung-Douglass (Louisiana Sea Grant) and Monica Wilson (Florida Sea Grant), communicator Tara Skelton and Oil Spill Science Outreach manager Steve Sempier (both Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant) each received an award. LaDon Swann, director of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, oversees the program.

A 113-acre tract on the Fort Morgan peninsula -- the last large, privately held piece of undeveloped beach and dunes on the Alabama coast -- will be purchased by the state for conservation. The purchase was made possible thanks to the award of $36 million in BP oil spill money from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Previous plans for the land included 500 condos. Now, it will be a wildlife refuge available to the endangered Alabama beach mouse, sea turtles, piping plovers and other animals. This is the biggest project to be funded so far from the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund managed by NFWF from criminal fines against BP and Transocean.

• NOAA RESTORE Science Program hosts a three-year  Restoration and Science Funding Calendar that consolidates planned funding opportunities

By State:

"The Ocean Enterprise -- understanding and quantifying business activity in support of observing, measuring and forecasting the ocean" by Ralph Rayner, Carl Gouldman and Zdenka Willis has been published in the Journal of Operational Oceanography.

The article summarizes the 2016 IOOS Ocean Enterprise study and explores the ways in which the ocean industry cluster interacts with the US Integrated Ocean Observing System and how the United States Ocean Enterprise compares to that of the United Kingdom.

Louisiana's coast is vanishing at an alarming rate.

To highlight the challenges, research and working solutions presented during the State of the Coast Conference in New Orleans earlier this year, ECO Magazine produced a special issue that examines ongoing restoration efforts along this working coast.

Read Eva Pagaling's first-person account of paddling in the Chumash community's annual tomol crossing. Tomol's are plank boats built by

 

"Paddling in Dark Water during the annual Chumash community tomol crossing this year was like paddling into the abyss as we pulled water without the benefit of moonlight. The night sky made the waves between Channel Islands Harbor and Limuw, Santa Cruz Island, appear a shade darker than midnight, and the thick layers of fog floating between us obscured what was left of our vision..."

The White House National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) released "Science and Technology for America's Oceans: A Decadal Vision" in November.

The report identified five  goals  to  advance  U.S.  ocean  S&T and the Nation in the coming  decade:

The GRP is offering up to $10 million in grants to spur innovation and support research that will help reduce and manage risks associated with offshore energy systems. Two workshops identified specific and implementable research to help improve process safety within the offshore oil and gas industry:

This funding opportunity is based on priority research areas identified during those workshops.

The Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Maryland, College Park invites applications for a tenure track position at the Assistant Professor level. We seek a candidate who will develop an active, externally funded research effort that will complement existing areas of expertise within our Department, teach at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and is able to make use of the unique resources provided by the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, the state of Maryland, as well as the rest of the greater Washington DC region. Research areas of interest include, but are not limited to biogeochemical cycles, Chesapeake Bay, modeling the interaction between human and natural systems, the oceans and polar science.

Position will remain open until filled and best consideration will be given to applications submitted by Dec. 31, 2018.

The GRP is accepting applications for two fellowship programs:

Early-Career Research Fellowship: Two years of unrestricted funding to pursue the innovative research and unique collaborations that move coastal science forward. Applications due Feb. 20, 2019.

Science Policy Fellowship: Gain first-hand professional experience as you spend one year alongside decision-makers at agencies across Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Florida. Applications due March 6, 2019.