Regional Ecosystem Prediction Program: Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research

by: Iola Bonggay

The United States Department of Commerce, otherwise known as DOC, is an independent agency of the Cabinet department of the United States government that is primarily responsible for promoting and ensuring economic growth.

The programs and activities of the DOC are carefully guided by its overall agency mission, which is to "promote job creation and improved living standards for all Americans by creating an infrastructure that promotes economic growth, technological competitiveness, and sustainable development."

In keeping with this mission, the United States Department of Commerce has recently constituted the development of the Regional Ecosystem Prediction Program, specifically the Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research.

The Regional Ecosystem Predication Program is designed to establish and improve predictive capabilities for the management of the country's coastal resources by way of funding competitive research programs.

After which, the agency then makes it a point to translate the results of its funded research studies into accessible and useful information, and then rightfully shares them with coastal managers, lawmakers, planners, and as well as the public, in an effort to balance the needs of economic improvement with those that are concerned with the conservation of the resources of the nation's coasts, oceans, and great lakes.

In this project, the primary focus would be the effects of ocean acidification on the essential fish and shellfish species and their corresponding ecosystems in United States estuarine and coastal waters.

  (continued...)

Regional Ecosystem Prediction Program: Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research
  Page 2

About The Author Iola Bonggay is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs. She also maintains Websites providing resources on children grants and education grant money.

Additional Resources

category - Environmental Grants

2013 Mid-Atlantic Research Set-Aside Program
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has recently established the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Research Set-Aside Program wherein it intends to solicit proposals that can successfully and efficiently address the Mid-Atlantic Research Set-Aside priorities relating to summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, longfin squid, Illex squid, Atlantic mackerel, butterfish, and bluefish.

---

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Centers for Oceans and Human Health
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has recently established a funding opportunity entitled Centers for Oceans and Human Health which provide linkages between members of ocean sciences and biomedical communities in the hopes of supporting interdisciplinary studies in areas where thorough understanding of marine processes and ecosystems harbor the potential to reduce public health risks.

---

Coastal Impact Assistance Program
The Fish and Wildlife Service has recently established the Coastal Impact Assistance Program wherein the agency will provide a ceiling budget amounting to $250 million to be utilized in conservation, protection, and preservation projects of coastal areas, including wetlands.

---

2012 Scallop Research Set-Aside Program
The Department of Commerce, in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has recently established a project entitled 2012 Scallop Research Set-Aside Program.

---