The University of Hawaii (UH) has been selected to lead a new research program that comes with funding of up to $210 million to be awarded over a period of five years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) selected UH to host its Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (CIMAR), an initiative to predict and understand environmental change in the Indo-Pacific region to protect the marine resources of Hawaii and other U.S. Pacific islands, reported KHON2 News.
"As a recognized leader on ocean and marine science, the University of Hawaii was just selected to receive up to $210 million to lead a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research program," U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) wrote in a June 2 Facebook post. "This investment in UH will help us better forecast natural hazards like hurricanes, king tides, and tsunami; protect our oceans and fisheries in the face of climate change; and maintain the U.S. leadership role in ocean and earth science."
Doug Luther, director of the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), said that the program will be critical to the financial futures of U.S. Pacific island communities.
“This new award, reaffirming a 44-year collaboration between NOAA and UH, is a testament to the excellence of the accomplishments by federal and UH researchers,” Luther said, according to KHON2 News. “It provides the resources for CIMAR to advance in the tropical Pacific NOAA’s concept of healthy oceans, ecosystems, communities and economies that are resilient in the face of environmental change.”
The research program has the option to be renewed for another five years at the end of the initial five-year term.