U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy - Joint Ocean Commission Initiative

Recommendation 8–15The Office of Naval Research (ONR) should reinvigorate its support of graduate education inocean sciences and engineering. This could be accomplished, in part, by increasing the numberof ocean-related awards made under ONR’s National Defense Science and EngineeringGraduate Fellowship Program.Recommendation 8–16The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, Office ofNaval Research, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration should encourage increasedparticipation of traditionally underrepresented and underserved groups in the ocean-relatedworkforce. Ocean.ED should coordinate among these agencies and institutions of higher learning.Specifically, Ocean.ED should:• ensure that the appropriate mix of programs and opportunities exists to provide underrepresentedand underserved groups ample access to and support for pursuing oceanrelatedgraduate education, including opportunities at Minority Serving Institutions andother universities and oceanographic institutions.• ensure that programs are established through a competitive process and evaluated forperformance on an annual basis.Recommendation 8–17Ocean.ED, working with other appropriate entities, should promote existing mechanisms andestablish new approaches for developing and delivering relevant, accessible information andoutreach programs that enhance community education.In particular, Ocean.ED should:• work with ocean-related informal education initiatives to better engage underrepresentedand underserved populations and communities by using mechanisms, materials,and language familiar to and accepted by them.• work with informal education facilities to develop the capacity to quickly prepare anddeliver new science-based materials and programs to the public and the media to captureimmediate interest in noteworthy advances in ocean science.• engage industry, the commercial sector, and the media in community education andstewardship programs.Chapter 9: Managing Coasts and their WatershedsRecommendation 9–1Congress should reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) to strengthen theplanning and coordination capabilities of coastal states and enable them to incorporate acoastal watershed focus and more effectively manage growth. Amendments should includerequirements for resource assessments, the development of measurable goals and performancemeasures, improved program evaluations, incentives for good performance and disincentivesfor inaction, and expanded boundaries that include coastal watersheds.Specifically, CZMA amendments should address the following issues:• resource assessments—State coastal management programs should provide for comprehensiveperiodic assessments of the state’s natural, cultural, and economic coastalresources. These assessments will be critical in the development of broader regionalecosystem assessments, as recommended in Chapter 5.• goals—State coastal management programs should develop measurable goals based oncoastal resource assessments that are consistent with national and regional goals. Statecoastal programs should work with local governments, watershed groups, nongovernmentalorganizations, and other regional entities, including regional ocean councils, todevelop these goals.CHAPTER 31: SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS489