1. MS-AL Sea Grant: Research and Outreach to Address Coastal Issues LaDon Swann, Director NOAA’s Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and Auburn University Marine Center

2. Sea Grant Organizational Structures 32 Sea Grant Programs in 30 states – – 28 single institution hosts – – 2 states with multiple programs MIT and WHOI CA and USC – – 2 bi-state programs MASGC IL-IN – – 3 Consortia MASGC NJ SC, consortium within a state agency

3. Nine Consortium Members USM is our fiscal host.

4. Sea Grant Focus Areas Safe and Sustainable Seafood Supply Hazard Resilient Coastal Communities Sustainable Coastal Development Healthy Coastal Ecosystems

6. Sea Grant Strengths Local knowledge of environment, geography, society, culture, and government Conduit between 300 universities and 3,000 faculty to the public 300 outreach experts, including extension specialists, science communicators, educators and attorneys

7. MASGC ranked 18 th in terms of base SG funding with $1.23 million

8. MASGC ranked 2 nd in terms of total NOAA funding with $5.05 million. Most of the additional NOAA money funds regional SLR, ESV and CSP research.

9. Feb. 1, 2009, to Jan. 31, 2011.

11. Examples of MASGC Impacts

12. University Research Underpins our Strong Engagement Programs Research support: $3.3 million for FY 2012-2013 MASGC will support $977,000 Regional Sea Grant Programs and NOAA will support – – $1.56 million for ecosystem services valuation – – $500,000 for coastal storms partnerships between communities and university scientists – – $540,000 to support development of tools for communities to use to plan for and adapt to projected sea-level rise Does not include state research supported by FL, LA and TX Sea Grant

13. Safe and Sustainable Seafood Supply

14. Energy-Saving Shrimp-Harvesting Gear

15. Sustainable Coastal Development

16. Healthy Coastal Ecosystems Shoreline Restoration Shoreline Restoration Stormwater Stormwater Clean Marinas Clean Marinas

17. Healthy Coastal Ecosystems Stewardship Programs – – Master Naturalist – – Oyster Gardening

18. Hazard Resilient Coastal Communities Community Resilience Index for communities to use to conduct a self- assessment of their resilience to coastal storms. The index has 42 indicators of resilience organized around six categories. – Critical infrastructure – Transportation – Mitigation Measures – Community Planning – Business Planning – Social Networks

19. Hazard Resilient Coastal Communities A Community of Practice is a group of professionals who aim to achieve common outcomes. By working together, they can learn from one another and develop a set of effective common approaches that can be refined over time.

20. The Future of MASGC Challenges – – Sea Grant’s brand Constituents do not identify programs with Sea Grant We can fix this through more targeted communications Federal budget – – The House CJS would cut Sea Grant by 33%

21. The Future of MASGC Opportunities – – Numerous references to Sea Grant programs Gulf of Mexico Alliance Action Plan Oil spill recovery plans Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force NOAA Marine Aquaculture – – Sea Grant’s budget is $20 million below our authorized level Offers a way of supporting more university-based research through authorized appropriations.