National Sea Grant College Programs

Almost 15 years ago, the Regional Marine Research Program (RMRP) was established to set priorities for regional marine and coastal research in support of efforts to safeguard the water quality and ecosystem health of 10 ocean and coastal regions around the U.S. (the Great Lakes was covered under separate legislation). For each of the RMRP regions, research plans were developed by regional committees that involved an array of regional stakeholders and were chaired by Sea Grant Directors. These regional plans serve as useful examples of a well-designed planning process and sources of carefully considered priorities for research toward NOAA's goals. RMRP activities, however, were limited to planning with the exception of the Gulf of Maine where funds were made available to implement the plan that was developed.

The Regional Sea Grant Initiative is intended to provide support to develop regional research and information plans that will complement the national planning efforts by providing a bridge between national and local research and information needs for U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas.

National Sea Grant Office
Kristin Rasmussen Program Analyst/Assistant to the Director Phone: (301) 734-1088 Email: kristin.rasmussen@noaa.gov
Alaska	Gulf of Maine
Brian Allee Alaska Sea Grant University of Alaska Fairbanks Wells Fargo Building 794 University Avenue, Suite 238 Fairbanks, AK 99775-5040 Phone: (907) 474-7949 Email: allee@sfos.uaf.edu	Judy Pederson Manager, Center for Coastal Resources MIT Sea Grant College Program E38-300 (Administration, Research, and AUV Laboratory) or NE20-74 (Advisory, Outreach, and Education) Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Phone: (617) 252-1741 Email: jpederso@mit.edu
California Current	Gulf of Mexico
Julie M. Risien, Regional Project Coordinator, Oregon Sea Grant Oregon State University 322 Kerr Administration Building Corvallis, OR 97331-2131 Phone: (541) 737-4440 Email: julie.risien@oregonstate.edu	Stephen Sempier Regional Research Planning Coordinator Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium 703 East Beach Drive Ocean Springs, MS 39564 Phone: 228-818-8830 Email: Stephen.sempier@usm.edu
Caribbean	Insular Pacific
Manuel Valdes Pizzini University of Puerto Rico Sea Grant College Program PO Box 9011 Mayagüez, PR 00681-9011 Phone: (787) 832-3585 Email: mavaldes@uprm.edu	Darren Okimoto Extension Leader University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program 2525 Correa Road, HIG 238 Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822 Phone: (808) 956-7031 Email: okimotod@hawaii.edu
Great Lakes	Mid-Atlantic
Jeffrey M. Reutter Ohio Sea Grant 1314 Kinnear Rd. Area 100 Columbus, OH 43212-1156 Phone: 614.292.8949 Email: reutter.1@osu.edu	Biliana Cicin-Sain/Nancy Targett University of Delaware, Graduate College of Marine and Earth Studies Newark, DE 19716 Phone: (302) 831-8086 E-mail: bcs@udel.edu
Greater New York Bight	South Atlantic
Sylvain De Guise Connecticut Sea Grant College Program 1080 Shennecossett Road Groton CT 06340-6048 Phone: (860) 405-9138 Email: sylvain.deguise@uconn.edu	Christine Laporte Marine Sciences Bldg. Univ. of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-3636 Phone: 760-542-1283 Email: claporte@uga.edu