Goddard Space Flight Center

06/21/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/22/2021 07:12

NASA Awards Funds to Minority-Serving Institutions for Ocean Research

NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry, or OCEAN, has awarded grants to 10 universities for projects that will support NASA's Science Mission Directorate in seeking a better understanding of the ocean's role in the Earth system.

More than $6.6 million will be distributed to these institutions over the course of a three-year period of performance.

The recipient institutions and their proposed projects are:


Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Improving the Coastal Carbon Budget: Is Sediment-Derived CDOM (Colored Dissolved Organic Matter) a Significant Portion of CDOM in Coastal Areas?

This proposal aims to quantify the contribution of organic carbon from different sources as potentially significant components of regional carbon budgets in the Gulf of Mexico's hypoxia region off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana.


Northwest Indian College Foundation, Bellingham, Washington

Integrating Systems Models and Remote Sensing to Explore Aquatic Ecosystem Vulnerability to Global Change in Lake Huron

The project proposes to demonstrate that the California Harmful Algae Risk Mapping (C-HARM) model, currently used to forecast the toxigenic phytoplankton and domoic acid events in the southern and central California Current System, can predict harmful algal conditions for the Pacific Northwest.


Texas State University, San Marcos

Extending the California Harmful Algae Risk Mapping (C-HARM) domoic acid model to the Pacific Northwest

This multi-institutional project will combine remote sensing data products with landscape hydrology and wetland ecosystem models to assess changes in aquatic ecosystems around Lake Huron in response to pressures of nutrient loading, invasive vegetation, and water level changes over a 30-year period.


University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Remote Sensing of Sargassum Accumulation and Impacts on Tropical Marine Ecosystems: A Multi-Scale Approach

The proposed research focuses on the impacts of Sargassum blooms on fringing red mangroves and benthic habitats, specifically coral reefs and seagrass beds, along Puerto Rico's coastline on seasonal and multi-year timescales.


University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Enhancing Ocean Color Remote Sensing Tools to Better Constrain Fisheries Forecasting Models in a Critical Subarctic System

This project aims to integrate shipboard observations with ocean color remote sensing data to analyze the climate-driven variability at the base of the marine food chain and the potential impacts of these changes in groundfish and salmon stocks.


University of California, Irvine

Linking Genomic and Remote Sensing Observations to Quantify the Physiological Nutrient Stress Dynamics in Ocean Ecosystems

The proposers have developed a novel metagenomic method of detecting the type and severity of nutrient stress in different ocean regions. Using this approach, they will attempt to link genomic nutrient stress biomarkers with a to-be-developed diagnostic satellite remote sensing data tool that will indicate regional phytoplankton physiological status and community composition.


University of California, Merced

Wildfire Impacts on Watershed Transport of Carbon to Coasts

This project aims to quantify how wildfires alter particulate organic carbon and sediment fluxes to the California coast, and how these fluxes impact coastal kelp forest distributions and productivity along the California Current system for the 2000-2020 study period.


University of Hawaii Systems, Hilo

Quantifying Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise Across Multiple Coastal Typologies

The proposal seeks to address the impact of climate change, particularly sea level rise and coastal inundation, on land/ocean interfaces and nearshore ecosystems such as corals and reefs. The project uses the big island of Hawaii as a case study regarding how the vulnerability of nearshore aquatic, intertidal, and coastal ecosystems will accelerate when sea level rise exceeds a critical elevation point.


University of Massachusetts, Boston

Using Hyperspectral Imagery to Assess the Effects of Warming on New England Kelp Forests

The proposed project is focused on investigation of the effects of global warming on the kelp forest off the coast of New England using a combination of hyper- and multi-spectral imagery, divers' observations, bathymetric data, and climate models to forecast kelp abundance.


University of the Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie

Climate Change and the Effects of Golden Tides on Caribbean Coastal Sustainability - Multiscale Predictions for an Emerging Biocomplex Problem

The proposed study aims to measure the impacts of golden tides on coastal habitats and biodiversity around the US Virgin Islands, and determine the released nutrients from its decomposition.

About MUREP

Administered through NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, MUREP supports the training and development of students and faculty at minority-serving institutions in STEM fields. MUREP awards are established to strengthen and develop these institutions' research capacity and infrastructure in areas of strategic importance and value to NASA's mission and national priorities.

In keeping with this goal, OCEAN awards seek to improve understanding of the structure and function of global aquatic ecosystems; their interactions with the atmosphere, terrestrial, and cryospheric systems; and the ocean's role in the cycling of the major biogeochemical elements.

For more information about MUREP, please click here.

About SMD

The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) engages the external and internal science community to define and prioritize science questions, and seeks to expand the frontiers of five broad scientific pursuits: Earth science, planetary science, biological and physical sciences, heliophysics, and astrophysics. Through a variety of robotic observatory and explorer craft, and through sponsored research, SMD provides virtual human access to the farthest reaches of space and time, as well as practical information about changes on our home planet.

For more information about SMD, please click here.

Katherine Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1288
[email protected]

Last Updated: Jun 22, 2021

Editor: Flint Wild