South Atlantic Regional Research Project

Program Coordinator

Christine Laporte

Marine Sciences Bldg.
Univ. of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-3636
Tel. 760-542-1283
claporte@uga.edu

GCRC Director

Merryl Alber

Marine Sciences Bldg.
Univ. of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-3636
gcrc@uga.edu

Overview

The National Sea Grant Program recently 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.

Organizing Committee

Merryl Alber

Principal Investigator and Director, Georgia Coastal Research Council, and Associate Professor of Marine Sciences at the Univ. of Georgia, Athens.

Charles S. (Chuck) Hopkinson

Director, Georgia Sea Grant, Univ. of Georgia, Athens.

M. Richard (Rick) DeVoe

Executive Director, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, Charleston.

Karl E. Havens

Interim Director, Florida Sea Grant and Prof/Chair of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the Univ. of Florida, Gainesville.

Mike Voiland

Executive Director, North Carolina Sea Grant, Raleigh.

Approach

The project is being managed by the Georgia Coastal Research Council (GCRC, www.gcrc.uga.edu) in association with the Georgia Sea Grant program. Our approach is to construct a needs assessment that will be used as the basis for identification of priority research needs, and then establish technical strategy teams with appropriate expertise to develop draft action plans that address each priority. We have established a Regional Advisory Group with high-level representation from each part of the region to help guide the project and ensure that it is well-coordinated with other efforts. Public input will be solicited (through a survey and other means) and there will be a focused outreach effort to educate stakeholders about the plan. We will also coordinate this effort with NOAA's Southeast and Caribbean Regional Team (SECART) program. In addition to the Final Regional Plan, we will establish a South Atlantic Coastal Research Council that will ensure the transfer of technology and information to the appropriate end users, and serving as a platform for coordination, collaboration, and resources sharing among participants.