DEVELOPING A SUSTAINED AND COORDINATED U.S. COASTAL RESEARCH PROGRAM

Abstract

To address societal needs along the coast, a community of researchers from Federal agencies, academia, industry, & NGOs are developing a National science plan. The goal is to identify and address research priorities through better coordinated Federal activities to enhance funding sources, strengthen academic programs, and build a skilled workforce. This abstract describes a grassroots effort, initiated by researchers, that has led to meaningful engagement from the coastal community and swift action to build a National plan. The effort began in Mar 2014 when academic & Federal researchers, convened the Future of Nearshore Processes Workshop to develop a research vision to address societally-relevant coastal science challenges. They organized science needs in three broad research themes, 1) long-term coastal evolution 2) extreme events and 3) human and ecosystem health, identified a need to strengthen science infrastructure (e.g. observations and modeling) and recommended creation of a U.S. Coastal Research Program and Nearshore Advisory Council (NAC) to support the vision (Nearshore Processes Community 2015).