Overview

Worldwide, oceans and coasts are impacted by a variety of natural and anthropogenic processes that are changing ecosystems and reshaping the human-nature interface in dramatic ways. The need to find solutions to complex problems calls for an innovative research program.  At the national and international level, the scientific and conservation community has underscored the importance of an ecosystem approach to management and to understanding the human dimension of ecosystems. An ecosystem approach to management provides a comprehensive framework for making sound decisions to maintain the health, productivity, and resilience of coasts and oceans based on the recognition that humans, organisms, and environments are intricately connected. In addition, we recognize that the ocean-atmosphere interface and climate change are critical for furthering our understanding of the planet, as is advancing our knowledge about the array of local impacts and necessary decisions to cope with extreme hazards and events. 

In line with the National Sea Grant College Program’s focus areas, the following priority needs were identified as the most important ones for our region:

• Inventory and population studies of important coastal species and biological resources (e.g., fish, coral reef, sea grasses, mangroves, microbes)
• Studies that promote habitat restoration and reforestation (e.g., salt ponds, coral reefs, mangroves, wetlands, hydrographic basins)
• Impacts of climate change (e.g., sea level rise, flooding, increases in rainfall, storms and hurricanes, seawater temperature, erosion, species migration) on coastal areas Habitat connectivity and utilization (e.g., adjacent ecosystems, land-­‐use planning)
• Development of environmental indicators and environmental/biological standards for public health (e.g., water quality, nutrients, sediments)
• Establishing the resilience capacity or limit of adaptive change of local communities frequently visited by tourists and resource users and their ability to adapt to climate change
• Assessment of the socio-­‐economic impact of commercially and recreationally important marine organisms on local communities
• Studies on the impacts of invasive/exotic species and pathogens (e.g., natural stressors, lionfish, microbes)
• Establishing baselines of commercial and recreational marine organisms (e.g., fish, conch) to obtain reliable estimates of size and catch trends
• Habitat mapping and identification of critical areas (e.g., spawning aggregation sites, coral reefs)
• Physical models which link watershed and coastal processes in order to address and test a wide variety of issues (climate change, habitat migration, management of ecosystems, hazards and anthropogenic influences)

Funding

UPR Sea Grant is a critical source of funding for large and small research projects that produce the needed information for the development of sound management plans for our marine resources and decision making in the archipelago of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Every two years the program makes a call for proposals in which researchers from Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and those from the US mainland who have research interests in the Caribbean are encouraged to compete for research funds in a peer reviewed process.

Our research focuses on the development of theoretical and applied research that is organized and disseminated through workshops and activities developed by the Marine Outreach Program and the education component of our program.