Funded by the NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority-Serving Institutions Cooperative Agreement Award #NA16SEC4810009

Scientific Research

Research conducted within the NOAA CCME will fall under three focus areas, each with a unique set of objectives and strategies to address CCME goals through an integrative approach: Coastal Intelligence, Coastal Resilience, and Place-Based Conservation.

FOCUS AREA GOALS

Coastal Intelligence

  1. The elements of sea-level rise observation networks and their relationship to sea-level rise projections.
  2. The leading stressors on ecosystem processes and their relationship to ecosystem health.
  3. Archived, existing, and new data streams that support ecosystems dynamics and research.
  4. Widely-used databases and decision- support tools that address coastal hazards.
  5. Best practices for ecosystem assessment and restoration.
  6. Demonstrate the use of communication approaches to deliver more effective warnings about coastal resources and coastal hazards.
  7. Evaluate a select suite of products and services to confirm the integration and effective use of social science into coastal intelligence research.

Coastal Resilience

  1. The natural and nature-based infrastructure that address the impact of extreme weather on coastal ecosystems and communities.
  2. The community-based approaches for the preservation, fortification, and enhancement of natural and nature-based coastal infrastructure.
  3. The models for community-based approaches for assessing the vulnerabilities and value of proposed solutions relating to the impact of extreme weather and sea-level rise on coastal ecosystems and communities.
  4. The tools used to study natural and nature-based infrastructure that mitigate the impact of extreme weather and sea- level rise on coastal communities and ecosystems.
  5. Integrating models and practices and other decision-making tools for ecosystem-based management.
  6. Advocating for the accountability of social science in planning and budgeting to enhance coastal community projects.

Place-Based Conservation

  1. The policies and commonly-used decision-making tools that support place- based conservation.
  2. The relationship between natural, applied, and social sciences and the policies as it pertains to capacity management.
  3. Best practices for engaging community stakeholders in addressing specific site- based concerns.
  4. Broadly-used ecosystems valuation tools and their use in place-based conservation efforts.
  5. The tools used to balance conservation with demand for coastal resource utilization and economic development.
  6. Understand socio-economic data needs.
  7. Engage community stakeholders.