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South Atlantic Alliance Established (news release)

A South Atlantic Alliance was formally announced 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.

November 2009 Announcements

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

- Online Seminar:  Marine Spatial Planning

Marine Ecosystems and Management (MEAM) and the Ecosystem Based Management Tools group will co-host a live global webinar on Tuesday, 17 November 2009 (1:30 pm US EST), to explore marine spatial planning.  Speakers are Charles (Bud) Ehler and Fanny Douvere of UNESCO, co-authors of the new guidebook "Marine Spatial Planning: A Step-by-Step Approach toward Ecosystem-Based Management".  For more information (including how to register and submit questions for the speakers), please visit http://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/837707984.

- Funding Announcement: National Oceanographic Partnership Program and Interagency Committee on Ocean Science and Resource Management Integration (US Dept of Defense)

The Office of Naval Research solicits research proposals for two topics: 1: Improving Attachments of Electronic Data Loggers to Cetaceans, and 2: Improvements in High-Resolution, Tide-Resolving Global Ocean Predictions. Team efforts are required among at least two of the following three sectors: academia, industry (including Non-Governmental Organizations - NGOs), and government (including state and local). Deadline:  November 23, 2009. http://www.dodtechmatch.com/DOD/Opportunities/FedBizView.aspx?id=09-037

- Funding Opportunity: The National Map: Imagery and Elevation Maps Under ARRA (USGS)

The USGS seeks to award American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for the collection and processing of high resolution elevation data and orthoimagery. The data collected under this announcement will become available to the public through The National Map. Priorities for the program include collecting elevation data over those coastal areas of United States most susceptible to storm and hurricane flooding, earthquake damage, and coastal erosion and also increasing coverage and availability of leaf-off high resolution orthoimagery. Code: USGS 10HQPA0014; ATN: ARRA-NM0004.   Deadline: December 1, 2009 http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId= 50002

- Funding Opportunity: Bring Back the Natives - Aquatic Species (NFWF)

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service, and Trout Unlimited, requests pre-proposals from nonprofit organizations, universities, native American tribes, and local, state, and federal agencies interested in restoring, protecting, and enhancing native populations of sensitive or listed aquatic species, especially on lands on or adjacent to federal agency lands. This funding suggests a $2 non-federal match for each federal dollar requested by applicants. Preproposal Deadline (required): December 1, 2009. Full Proposal Deadline (by invitation): February 1, 2010. http://www.nfwf.org/

- Funding Opportunity: SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund

The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund seeks research proposals in the areas of species research, habitat protection, animal rescue and rehabilitation, and conservation education. Grant awards range from $5,000 to $25,000 for a one-year term. Deadline:  December 1, 2009
http://www.swbg-conservationfund.org/pdf/GrantApplication.pdf
http://www.swbg-conservationfund.org/grantInfo.htm

- Funding Opportunity: FY 2010 Training Workshop Support Activities for the Section 303(d) and Water Quality Monitoring Programs (EPA)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting proposals from eligible applicants to conduct the following two training workshop support activities: (I) plan, prepare, and provide technical support for five annual Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(d) National Listing and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) Training Workshops; and (II) plan, prepare, and provide technical support for six to nine State and Tribal Aquatic Resource Monitoring Technical Training Workshops on aquatic resource specific (i.e., rivers/streams, lakes, coastal waters, and wetlands) issues, and two national State and Tribal Aquatic Resource Monitoring Technical Training Workshops covering all aquatic resource types on a biennial basis (i.e., one workshop in FY 2010 and one workshop in FY 2012). The total amount of expected federal funding available under this announcement is approximately $1,775,000. Code: EPA-OW-OWOW-10-01.  Deadline:  December 7, 2009, 4:00 p.m. EST
http://www.epa.gov/owow/funding/pdf/epa_ow_owow_10-01_training_support_rfp_final_10-15-09.pdf

- Call for Conference Abstracts: 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 at Wilmington, NC to be held 10-13 March 2010 on the beautiful campus of UNC Wilmington! The BEM website provides some more details: http://www.benthicecologymeeting2010.org/  Registration and call for abstracts begins 6 November ('09) and ends 15 January ('10) .

- Upcoming Workshop: Mapping Georgia Communities: An Introduction to GIS & Community Analysis

There is a GIS mapping workshop being offered in Atlanta - December 17th, 2009 (8:30am - 4:30pm). The workshop is geared toward beginners who would like to map demographic information for Georgia communities -- great for Government Agencies, Public Health, Academic Institutions, Non-Profit Organizations, etc.  The focus is hands-on teaching of the fundamentals of using a Geographic Information System (GIS) for community analysis. Participants will learn to create thematic maps with Census data, Geocoding (Address mapping) and Spatial Queries. Other features of the workshop are learning to extract Census data and good map layout and design.  http://www.urban-research.info/workshops/georgia-gis.htm

- Funding Opportunity: 2010 National Spatial Data Infrastructure Cooperative Agreements Program (USGS)

The National Spatial Data Infrastructure Cooperative Agreements Program (NSDI CAP), hosted by the National Geospatial Programs Office of the U.S. Geological Survey, funds innovative projects in the geospatial data community to build the infrastructure necessary to effectively discover, access, share, manage, and use digital geospatial data. A total of $1,320,000 in funds is available for the FY 2010 assistance award program. Awards range from $25,000 - 75,000. Projects will be funded for one year. To demonstrate the long-term sustainability of project outcomes, an in-kind resource match on the part of the applicant is required for all projects. Code: 10HQPA0011.  Deadline: January 7, 2010
http://www.fgdc.gov/grants/2010NSDICAP/2010CAP

- 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:

• Genetically Speaking, Mussels Recover Quickly from Sewage Impacts, Study Says
• Snook Diet Diversity Goes, With the Flow, in Florida Creeks
• N and P Reductions Necessary to Control Eutrophication in Coastal Waters
• Satellite Data Provide Critical Information on the Really Big Picture

To read the articles, subscribe or receive them by email, please visit, http://www.erf.org/cesn/vol32n4.html

- 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_0709.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.

- 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.