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February 2010 Announcements / News

Scroll down for all the announcements or click directly on items of interest.

- Funding Opportunity: Five Star Restoration Program 2010 (National Fish and Wildlife Foundation)

The Five Star Restoration Program seeks to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources by providing modest financial assistance to diverse local partnerships for wetland, riparian, and coastal habitat restoration. Partnerships should include at least five organizations ("Five Stars") that contribute to project success through funding, land, workforce support, technical support and/or other in-kind services. Projects should contain the following elements: restoration; environmental education; partnership with a diverse set of community stakeholders; and measurable results. Approximately $200,000 will be available from Southern Company to support projects in its service area, which includes Georgia, Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Southeast Mississippi. Application Deadline: February 11, 2010.  For more information, visit: http:// www.nfwf.org/FiveStar. 

- Fellowship: Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program (NOAA)

The Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Sea Grant College Program (NSGO), matches highly qualified graduate students with "hosts" in the legislative and executive branches of government located in the Washington, D.C. area, for a one year paid fellowship. Any student, regardless of citizenship, who, on February 19, 2010 is in a graduate or professional program in a marine or aquatic-related field at a United States-accredited institution of higher education may apply to the NSGO through their state Sea Grant program. The Georgia Sea Grant program contact is Dr. Charles Hopkinson, Room 226 Marine Science Bldg., University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Phone: 706-542-1855, Email: chopkins@uga.edu. Please read the accompanying description (PDF) carefully before applying. Deadline:  February 19, 2010.  For more information, see: http://www.seagrant.noaa.gov/knauss/

- Call for Presentations: Restore America's Estuaries

Restore America's Estuaries is pleased to announce the Call for Dedicated Sessions, Presentations, and Posters for the 5th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration--Preparing for Climate Change: Science, Practice, and Policy. The Conference will be held November 13-17, 2010, at the Galveston Island Convention Center, Galveston, Texas.  Deadline for Sessions, Presentations, and Posters: March 2, 2010.  For more information and to submit a proposal, visit: http://program.estuaries.org.

- Funding Opportunity: Community Action For A Renewed Environment (EPA)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) solicits project proposals for the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. CARE is designed to help communities understand and reduce risks due to toxic pollutants and environmental concerns from all sources. Generally, a project must address the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution, solid/hazardous waste pollution, air pollution, toxic substances control, pesticide control, or ocean dumping. EPA CARE cooperative agreements are awarded under various EPA statutory authorities as detailed in the full RFP (see http://www.epa.gov/air/grants/care_rfp_12_09.pdf). Most, but not all, of the following activities are supported: research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, and studies. Deadline: March 9, 2010, 4:00 p.m. EST.   Code: EPA-OAR-IO-10-04.   For Q&A about the program, click here.  

- Upcoming Conference: Southeast Estuarine Research Society -and- Benthic Ecology Meeting

The SEERS meeting in the Spring of 2010 will be a joint meeting with the Benthic Ecology Meeting folks and will take place 10-13 March 2010 on the beautiful campus of UNC Wilmington! The BEM website provides some more details: http://www.benthicecologymeeting2010.org/  Abstract submission has closed, but registration for the event continues.

- Funding Opportunity:  Computationally Intensive Research Projects in Environmental Molecular Science Research (Dept of Energy)

The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) is soliciting one year proposals for allocations of computer time for Computationally Intensive Research (CIR) projects renewable up to three years duration. Research areas sought are in environmental molecular science, basic and applied research areas that address the environmental problems and research needs facing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Deadline: April 24, 2010.   For more information, visit: http://www.emsl.pnl.gov/access/cir_guidelines.jsp

- Conference: NatureServe

• NatureServe Conservation Conference 2010: Biodiversity without Boundaries (April 26 - 28)
• Southeast Natural Heritage Conference (April 29 - 30)

The NatureServe Conservation Conference 2010: Biodiversity without Boundaries is an international training and education event for the environmental conservation community. Conservation leaders, thinkers and doers representing federal, state and provincial agencies, non-profit conservation organizations, universities, and corporations come together for three days of education, issue discussion, idea exchange, innovation sharing, and professional networking. Attendees of the conference have one thing in common: a commitment to meet emerging and urgent conservation needs in the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, and around the world.
     The Southeast Natural Heritage Conference focuses on knowledge exchange among the NatureServe network members to facilitate productive working sessions on new developments in science, technology, and leadership across the Southeast and the entire network.
     The conferences will be held in Austin, Texas, April 26–30, 2010, but the deadline to submit a presentation topic has passed. Visit the conferences web pages for details about the conferences, issue tracks, and registration. 

- Conference in Planning: International Estuarine Biogeochemistry Symposium

The next IEBS meeting is in the planning stages. It will be held May 10-13, 2010 in North Carolina. In recent years this symposium has focused on issues of climate change and coastal environments and the connectivity between watershed and coastal ocean processes.  Brent A. McKee, bmckee@unc.edu would like us to spread the word on this unique opportunity (it is been quite a while since this symposium was held in the US).  He is looking to form an organizing committee soon, so let him know if you are interested or if you would like to suggest someone. More information is available here.

- Workshop Materials Available: Planning for Climate Change (NERRS)

Materials are now available for Planning for Climate Change, a workshop that was developed as a national project for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). The workshop is geared primarily toward shoreline planners and developed so that Coastal Training Programs (and other agencies) around the country can customize the workshop and use it as part of their educational efforts regarding climate change. It was piloted twice (in Washington State) and, while it lays a foundation in current climate research, it primarily addresses the fundamentals of how to prepare and adapt to the anticipated impacts of climate change. Workshop materials, evaluation results, lessons learned, PowerPoint presentations, and streaming video of the training sessions are all posted on the NERRS website: http://nerrs.noaa.gov/Training/padillabay/project.html.

- Resource: Coastal & Estuarine Science News (Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation)

CESN provides summaries of selected articles from the Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation's journal, Estuaries and Coasts: An International Journal of Coastal Science. The summary articles emphasize management applications of the scientific findings.  These are the most recent CESN summary topics:

• A Decade of Eutrophication in the Skidaway River Estuary: More Small Phytoplankton, Less Oxygen, Big Food Web Changes (featured research by the late Peter Verity)
• Passive Restoration of Former Agricultural Sites Can Bring Back Marsh Channel Networks
• Nutrient Enrichment Increases Food Web Complexity in Florida Bay
• Massive Tideland Reclamation Project + Monsoon Conditions = Sediment and Water Quality Impacts

To read the articles, subscribe or receive them by email, please visit, http://www.erf.org/cesn/december-2009

- Resource: Gulf of Mexico News (NOAA Ocean Service)

There are many Gulf-specific items here, but this comprehensive, monthly resource (from NOAA Ocean Service, Office of Ocean & Coastal Resource Management) also has lots to offer GCRC website visitors: funding information, scientific entries, government updates, etc.
http://www2.nos.noaa.gov/gomex/gulf_news/2009/gomnews_11_1209.pdf

- New Document: Coastal Stormwater Supplement to the Georgia Stormwater Manual

The final April 2009 Coastal Stormwater Supplement to the Georgia Stormwater Manual is now available on the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission’s website.  The CSS represents the work
of a cooperative, collaborative team comprised of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources - Environmental Protection Division, the cities and counties of coastal Georgia, and the Center for Watershed Protection. This group developed guidelines for watershed (natural resource) protection and the control of postconstruction stormwater runoff from new and existing development. Development of the document was funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency. MPC Stormwater Page: http://www.mpcnaturalresources.org/water-resources/georgia-storm-water.html
GA Coastal Stormwater Supplement: http://www.mpcnaturalresources.org/pdf/2009-05-05/Georgia-CSS-Final-Apr-09.pdf (large file).

- New Technical Report: Ground Water Conditions and Studies in Georgia, 2006-2007 (USGS)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Georgia Water Science Center, announces a newly-published technical report entitled Ground Water Conditions and Studies in Georgia, 2006-2007, by Michael F. Peck, Jaime A. Painter, and David C. Leeth, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report, 2009-5070.  This publication presents an overview of groundwater levels and groundwater quality, water-use information, and hydrologic studies conducted during 2006 to 2007 by the USGS in Georgia. Summaries are presented for selected ground-water studies along with objectives and progress. This publication was prepared in cooperation with numerous local, State, and Federal agencies and is available on the Web at the following persistent URL: http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5070/

- Project of Interest: South Atlantic Regional Research Planning

The National Sea Grant Program launched a program to create research plans for U.S. coastal and Great Lakes areas. Sea Grant Programs from the South Atlantic region of the coastal USA (NC, SC, GA, FL) are working together to identify priority regional-level research needs and then develop an action plan to address these needs. The project involves coordination with NOAA laboratories, state and federal agencies, and academic partners, as well as participation from politicians, representatives from industry, and other stakeholders from throughout the region. The GCRC is managing this project in association with Georgia Sea Grant. Please visit the new SARRP website.

In the News

U.S. Department of Commerce Approves Short-Term Fishing Moratorium on South Atlantic Red Snapper

CICEET Progress Reports Available

The UNH/NOAA Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET) active projects, and final reports for completed projects, have been posted online. In our region, this includes projects concerning coastal planning, estuarine shore stabilization, and stormwater BMPs. http://ciceet.unh.edu/news/releases/fall09_reports/index.html#south

South Atlantic Alliance Established

A South Atlantic Alliance was formally announced (link to news release) on October 19th at a meeting of the Coastal States Organization in Charleston. Representatives from the four partner states (South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida) each had an opportunity for comment, and the federal government was represented by Mr. Michael Boots from the White House Council on Environmental Quality. GCRC staffer and SARRP Coordinator, Christine Laporte was also present: she is a member of the Alliance Executive Planning Team (representing SARRP).

The mission of the Alliance is to "significantly increase regional collaboration among South Atlantic states, with federal agency partners and other stakeholders, to sustain and enhance the environmental (coastal/marine), natural resource, economic, public safety, social, and national defense missions of the respective states and the South Atlantic region."

For more information about the Alliance and other opportunities for collaboration in our region, visit the Alliance website (http://www.southatlanticalliance.org/) and that of the South Atlantic Regional Research Project

- News Archives are now available...

Seeking coastal research information!

This site relies on its users for much of its content. Please alert us to any material you think we should include on our site. And if you have prepared progress reports for your funding agencies, send us a copy -- we would like to summarize your research for other site visitors. Georgia Coastal Research Council affiliated scientists and managers are also encouraged to check their bibliographic profiles and let us know of anything that needs updating. All feedback (complaints, compliments, broken links) is welcome. Please contact us.