NA24OARX417C0154

New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium
Sea Grant Omnibus Proposal 2024-2027

Overall Abstract

Purpose

New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC), the host institution for the Sea Grant Program in New Jersey, is a not-for-profit organization of colleges, universities, and other public and private entities.

Together this alliance shares the vision of a sustainable future for New Jersey, where citizens and visitors live, work, and play in harmony with the state's marine and coastal resources.

NJSGC management and staff work towards this vision with faculty from each member institution and many other like-minded partners by taking on initiatives that increase knowledge and stewardship of New Jersey's marine and coastal environment, inform coastal policy and decision-making, and ensure the relevance and excellence of the New Jersey Sea Grant College Program's research, education, and extension efforts.

Activities to be Performed

The Sea Grant Program at NJSGC supports stakeholder-driven research, extension, communications, and education in direct service to New Jersey's coastal environment and its citizens.

Extension expertise ranges from coastal hazard mitigation and shoreline engineering to marine recreation, shellfish aquaculture, community resilience, and water resource management.

Communications delivers diversified creative and production services to all programmatic areas and is responsible for conveying information to the media, the public, and targeted user groups using all means and mediums including print, electronic technology, radio and TV, and web and social media.

Education staff works with a broad set of audiences, and especially schoolchildren and their teachers, to engage them in the process of marine, coastal, and climate science and provide them with direct learning experiences focused on understanding the science of our shorelines and how to best care for them.

College students are supported through internships, fellowships, specialized coursework, and inclusion in funded research projects.

Outreach efforts, such as Ocean Fun Days, let all of New Jersey's citizens and visitors increase knowledge and appreciation of New Jersey's coastal resources.

Expected Outcomes

Our expected outcomes for this four-year omnibus proposal are guided by the mission of NJSGC and the marine and coastal priority issues presented to us by our stakeholders.

These goals and objectives are within the context of the four focus areas set forth by the National Sea Grant Strategic Plan (2024-2027) and subsequently NJSGC's strategic plan.

The main objective for this omnibus proposal is to ensure a successful implementation of the NJSGC strategic plan through its communications, education, extension, and research programs projects and activities that align with our focus areas of interest, which are healthy coastal ecosystems (HCE), resilient communities and economies (RCE), sustainable fisheries and aquaculture (SFA), and environmental literacy and workforce development (ELWD).

The main outcome of management's supervision and oversight will be a growing and integrated Sea Grant program that is addressing its stakeholder needs within the state but is also a program that is contributing to the success of the National Sea Grant Program and its networks.

This will set the stage not only for our functional programs for the next omnibus cycle, but also for future strategic planning for 2028-2031.

Subrecipient Activities

Sponsored research reflects local concerns and provides solutions to New Jersey's most pressing marine and coastal issues including water quality, shoreline restoration, dune and beach management and other erosion concerns, recreational and commercial fisheries management, and coastal hazard mitigation.

Extension services, through consortium members' memoranda of agreement, provide New Jersey's citizens, coastal municipalities, government and non-government groups, and marine dependent industries with information, advice, and tools to help them increase knowledge and appreciation of New Jersey's coastal resources.

New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium

TO SUPPORT THE ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF MAJOR UNIVERSITY CENTERS FOR MARINE RESOURCES RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING AND TO SUPPORT MARINE ADVISORY SERVICES. SOME INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS IN THESE SAME AREAS ALSO RECEIVE FUNDING.

11.417 - Sea Grant Support

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) [DOC]

Highlands, New Jersey 077324054 United States

Single Zip Code

NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-23187

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 102% from $2,594,646 to $5,234,490.