Research

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 understanding the human dimensions 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. An ecosystem approach considers a wide range of ecological, human, and environmental impacts and factors rather than a single species, habitat, impact or issue (S.A. Murawski and G.C. Matlock, Eds. Ecosystem Science Capabilities Required to Support NOAA’s Mission in the Year 2020. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-74, July 2006.). In addition, we recognize that the ocean-atmosphere interface and climate change are critical to furthering our understanding of the planet, as is advancing our knowledge about the array of local impacts and necessary decisions to cope with extreme events and hazards.

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. Our research focuses on the development of theoretical and applied research in order to increase our understanding of coastal and marine ecosystems and habitats, coastal communities and economies, coastal hazards, urban coasts, and the application of digital technologies. This crucial activity serves the Sea Grant mission to the fullest by developing integrated approaches that are organized and disseminated through workshops and activities developed by the Marine Outreach Program and the education component of our program.

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

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

Ecosystems and ecology: From microbial ecology to regional ecological interactions of the Caribbean Sea.
Coastal hazards: prediction, models, policies and the impacts of events on coastal communities and the economy.
Climate change: science, policy and societal impacts.
Land use impacts: the land-coast interface, coastal development, watershed management, water quality, pollutants and toxics, groundwater, and impacts to wetlands, estuaries, coral reefs and associated habitats.
Coastal processes: the oceanographic dynamics of waves, currents and the deposition of sand and sediments, alteration of coastal habitats, and loss of shoreline.
Socioeconomic processes of resource use and coastal communities: traditional ecological knowledge, economic valuation of coastal and ocean resources, participation in governance and institutional arrangements, resilience of communities, and gentrification.
Mariculture: new technologies, bio-fouling effects, biotechological applications, optimal systems and policies.