Translating Coastal Research into Application

The National Sea Grant College Program was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1966 (amended in 2020, Public Law 116-221) to support leveraged federal and state partnerships that harness the intellectual capacity of the nation’s universities and research institutions to solve problems and generate opportunities in coastal communities.

The U.S. Coastal Research Program (USCRP) is a multi-agency led effort to coordinate Federal activities, strengthen academic programs, and address coastal community needs. Past USCRP opportunities have funded university researchers across the U.S. to tackle coastal science and engineering questions in a variety of environments along all of the nation’s coastlines. The goal of the USCRP is to build a community of practice to address societal needs along the coast. USCRP is a collaboration of Federal agencies, academics, and stakeholders that aims to identify research priorities, enhance funding for coastal academic programs, foster collaboration, and promote science translation.

It is anticipated that approximately $4,000,000 will be available to move research project findings detailed in The Nearshore Report (https://uscoastalresearch.org/publications) toward application through service delivery that integrates research, its application, and community engagement in three thematic program areas of (1) long-term coastal evolution, (2) extreme Notice of Federal Funding Page 2 of 24 storms, and (3) human and ecosystem health. Developing and delivering actionable scientific information to users on the related themes requires integration of a broad range of stakeholder needs and coastal science. The USCRP Story Map highlights research that has been funded by the program: https://bit.ly/uscrp-projects

Proposals should address the needs or gaps that have been identified by or are evident from USCRP-funded projects, to move research project findings toward application through service delivery and decision support for coastal community decision-makers, planners, and other coastal stakeholders (i.e., the translation of societally-relevant coastal and estuarine physical processes science to science-based solutions that address coastal community needs related to resilience). Deriving societal benefit from this research requires engaging end-users to ensure it is delivered to them in an accessible and equitable manner to support their resilience decision making and planning.

This document sets out requirements for submitting to NOAA-OAR-SG-2022-2007298. Additional guidance and tips on how best to prepare an application are provided in the Sea Grant General Application Guide available at https://seagrant.noaa.gov/Portals/1/Guidance/SeaGrantGeneralApplicationGuide.pdf