NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competence and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is the president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
This is a report of work supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Cover art by Eileen Kiliman, a native of White Plains, New York, who currently lives in Front Royal, Virginia. Ms. Kiliman received a BBA in Marketing and a Certificate in Commercial Art from Pace University, in New York City. After 8 years representing graphic design firms, she converted her lifelong love of art into a full-time profession and has received a variety of commissions. Her style conveys a mixture of childhood observation and adult introspection.
Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE NOAA NATIONAL SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM
Arthur R.M. Nowell,
University of Washington, Seattle, WA,
Chairman
John E. Flipse,
Texas A&M University (ret.), Georgetown, SC
Mary Virginia Hinchcliff,
Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Naples, FL
John J. Manzi,
Atlantic LittleNeck ClamFarms, James Island, SC
Michael Orbach,
Duke University, Beaufort, NC
Leonard Pietrafesa,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Andrew R. Solow,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
Paul Stoffa,
University of Texas, Austin, TX
Karl K. Turekian,
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Staff
Edward R. Urban, Jr., Study Director
LaVoncyé Mallory, Project Assistant
OCEAN STUDIES BOARD
William Merrell,
Texas A&M University, Galveston, TX,
Chairman
Robert Berner,
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Donald Boesch,
University of Maryland, Cambridge, MD
Kenneth Brink,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
Gerald A. Cann, Independent Consultant,
Rockville, MD
Robert Cannon,
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Biliana Cicin-Sain,
University of Delaware, Newark, DE
William Curry,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
Rana Fine,
University of Miami, Miami, FL
John E. Flipse,
Texas A&M University (ret.), Georgetown, SC
Michael Freilich,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Gordon Greve,
Amoco Production Company, Houston, TX
Robert Knox,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA
Arthur R.M. Nowell,
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Peter Rhines,
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Frank Richter,
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Brian Rothschild,
University of Maryland, Solomons, MD
Thomas C. Royer,
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK
Lynda Shapiro,
University of Oregon, Charleston, OR
Sharon Smith,
University of Miami, Miami, FL
Paul Stoffa,
University of Texas, Austin, TX
Staff
Mary Hope Katsouros, Director
Edward R. Urban, Jr., Staff Officer
Robin Peuser, Research Associate
David Wilmot, Research Associate
Mary Pechacek, Administrative Associate
LaVoncyé Mallory, Senior Secretary
Curtis Taylor, Office Assistant
COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. Gordon Wolman,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD,
Chairman
Patrick R. Atkins,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, PA
Edith Brown Weiss,
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC
Peter S. Eagleson,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Edward A. Frieman,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA
W. Barclay Kamb,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Jack E. Oliver,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Frank L. Parker,
Vanderbilt/Clemson University, Nashville, TN
Raymond A. Price,
Queen's University at Kingston, Canada
Thomas C. Schelling,
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Larry L. Smarr,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL
Steven M. Stanley,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Victoria J. Tschinkel,
Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, FL
Warren Washington,
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO
Staff
Stephen Rattien, Executive Director
Stephen D. Parker, Associate Executive Director
Morgan Gopnik, Assistant Executive Director
Jeanette Spoon, Administrative Officer
Sandi Fitzpatrick, Administrative Associate
Robin L. Allen, Senior Project Assistant
Preface
The National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) has existed since 1967, three years longer than the agency in which it presently resides, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NSGCP has provided an important mechanism over the years for NOAA to access the broad array of skills and talents in state and private universities, and has encouraged the linking of research, education, and outreach activities to focus on problems of practical, economic, and social significance. NSGCP continues to provide opportunities for NOAA to develop cost-effective means for investigating marine issues where sharing resources—human, facilities, and fiscal—advances the national interest. NSGCP is a major vehicle for NOAA to reach beyond its own corporate laboratories and to use the nation's expertise in marine science, engineering, policy, and education for the national good.
The Ocean Studies Board was requested to review NSGCP as part of the preparations for the upcoming reauthorization hearings to be held in 1994 and 1995. The Administrator of NOAA requested that this review be completed no later than June 1, 1994, and accordingly, the committee and the Ocean Studies Board staff made exceptional efforts to gather the available information quickly and to solicit views and opinions to ensure inclusion of a wide range of perspectives. The many detailed responses received by the committee were greatly appreciated and showed the depth and breadth of interest, enthusiasm, and profound concerns about and for NSGCP. This report summarizes those materials and makes a series of focused recommendations to specific individuals, including associated action dates. In this way, the committee believes it has given NOAA a plan that can be followed to ensure that the concerns and problems
identified are addressed before the reauthorization hearings. Too much is at stake to permit apathy or inflexibility to hamper the potential success of NSGCP.
I would like to thank the entire committee and the staff of the Ocean Studies Board, whose hard work made it possible to complete this report in under three months from inception to completion.
Arthur R.M. Nowell
14 April 1994