Monday, August 14, 2006

WILMINGTON, N.C.- After a funding scare that nearly terminated the program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded a $2,068,950 grant to sustain minimal operations and key personnel to the NOAA Undersea Research Center at UNC Wilmington during 2006-07. This will permit the center to meet previously scheduled commitments, while NOAA reviews plans to restructure its Undersea Research Program.

UNCW's Undersea Research Center supports scientific diving using advanced technologies throughout the southeast U.S. and Gulf of Mexico. The grant enables the center to keep its key capabilities operational, including technical scuba diving to 300 feet deep, several robots, including the new Eagle Ray deep ocean mapping vehicle and the Aquarius undersea laboratory through June 30, 2007.

The new award also includes funds from other sources for several projects. Six projects are funded by the Coral Reef Conservation Program and include studies of coral reef disease, recruitment, and water quality. NOAA also provided ship-time funds to support the testing and evaluation of the new Eagle Ray Autonomous Undersea Vehicle, or AUV. Offshore protected areas and deep coral habitat are included in the target sites.

Andrew Shepard, director of the center, expressed relief, "Without NOAA's help, 22 years of ocean research would have come to an end." The NURC grant is the longest continuous ocean research grant in the state. He continued, "We are working hard to restore congressional support for 2007 and are hopeful that the crisis will not repeat itself."

"But if the crisis does repeat, we stand steadfast in our efforts to maintain NURC for the benefit of southeastern coastal ocean scientists," said Daniel Baden, director of the UNCW Center for Marine Science.

Media contact: Andrew Shepard, director of NURC at UNCW, 910.962.2446, sheparda@uncw.edu