BOEM FY 2017 Alaska Coastal Marine Institute

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The Environmental Studies Program of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is offering a cooperative agreement opportunity through the University of Alaska Coastal Marine Institute (CMI) to units within the University of Alaska system that have the ability to conduct research in topics that serve the public interest of safe and environmentally sound energy production and meet the goals of the BOEM. The general types of studies that may be funded include scientific studies for better understanding marine, coastal or human environments affected or potentially affected by offshore oil and gas or other mineral exploration and extraction on the outer continental shelf; modeling studies of environmental, social, economic, or cultural processes related to OCS oil and gas activities in order to improve scientific predictive capabilities; experimental scientific studies for better understanding of environmental processes, or the causes and effects of OCS activities; projects which design or establish mechanisms or protocols for sharing data or information regarding marine or coastal resources, or human activities to support prudent management of oil, gas and marine mineral resources; and synthesis studies of scientific environmental or socioeconomic information relevant to the OCS oil and gas program. The most relevant geographic areas are potential Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease areas in the Beaufort Sea, the Chukchi Sea and Cook Inlet including Shelikof Strait. Following the submission of letters of intent (LOI) from the University of Alaska, the BOEM, in discussion with representatives from the State of Alaska, have selected the LOI topics listed below for development of full proposals. This request is not a guarantee of funding. Proposals that do not target these selected research areas will not be considered: (1) Coastal Community Vulnerability Index and Visualizations of Change in Cook Inlet, Alaska (2) Nearshore food web structure along environmental gradients in OCS Cook Inlet region (3) High-frequency time-series characterization physicochemical parameters of Cook Inlet, Alaska (4) Physical drivers on change in the Beaufort Sea coastal lagoons: Effects of storm surges and flooding on barrier islands and a key subsistence species, the Pacific common eider (5) Microbial biodegradation of Alaska North Slope crude oil in Pacific Arctic marine sediments.

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