On behalf of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program , NOAA and partner agencies, including NASA , the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management , and the Office of Naval Research have awarded several new proposals that:
- Build upon the foundation established by the U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network, the U.S. Animal Telemetry Network , and the U.S. IOOS Regional Associations to work across sectors and disciplines towards an integrated, sustained marine life observing capability for the U.S. ocean, coasts and Great Lakes.
- Advance technologies for efficient and/or automated collection of species and associated habitat observations.
- Enable open access to biodiversity data and information.
- Utilize these observations, technologies, and data to address place-based (e.g., sanctuaries, reserves, protected areas, leasing blocks) management, conservation and restoration needs.
The Principal Investigators and project titles are as follows:
Francisco Chavez, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute — The CeNCOOS MBON: Marine biodiversity information in support of a healthy Blue Economy in the central California Current. This project will integrate remote sensing products, in situ data and models in support of a healthy Blue Economy in the Central California Current.
Nathan Furey, University of New Hampshire — Quantifying marine biodiversity through movements and feeding: Assessing coastal marine ecosystem dynamics near estuary mouths. This project will integrate acoustic telemetry, eDNA, and acoustics with traditional fisheries sampling.
Cassandra Glaspie, Louisiana State University — Louisiana Deltaic Estuaries MBON: Sea Level Rise Sentinels. This project will establish a new MBON effort in coastal Louisiana, focusing on highly productive and diverse estuarine ecosystems.
Katrin Iken, University of Alaska Fairbanks — AMBON (Arctic MBON) – linking biodiversity observations in the Arctic. The Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network provides high-quality biodiversity data from the Arctic Chukchi Sea across trophic levels, from microbes to whales.
Frank Muller-Karger, University of South Florida — The Southeast US Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON): Toward Operational Marine Life Data for Conservation and Sustainability. This project will serve as a regional collaboration hub of U.S. IOOS to address needs for marine biodiversity information in the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast U.S. EEZ.
