Marine Policy Institute | Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium

The issues our oceans face today are extremely complex and involve many different disciplines and perspectives. The Marine Policy Institute (MPI) at Mote Marine Laboratory was formally launched in 2006 to improve the connection between science and society. MPI serves as an independent, objective entity within Mote that analyzes and translates marine science results, findings, and related information into formats useful for the public—particularly decision-makers and members of concerned communities. This includes special reports designed to offer assessments and advice on law and policy enabling tools most responsive to advances in scientific knowledge.

MPI reports directly to the CEO/President of Mote in order to have independence from the science complex. It also closely coordinates and collaborates with Mote’s Vice President for Sponsored Research & Coastal Policy Programs.

Barbara Lausche meeting with International environmental lawyers working on teaching materials for Marine Protected Areas.

Barbara Lausche presents at conference on global conservation and landscapes/seascapes.

Mission and Vision

The Institute works to strengthen the scientific basis of public policy and societal decision making for economic development and sustainability of our oceans and coastal ecosystems.

Its long-term vision is to be an effective organization that focuses on both opportunities and problems in the marine and coastal environment with the view of promoting better integration of the natural and social sciences and improved knowledge for decision-makers and stakeholder groups on issues that require public policy attention.

MPI’s current Director (since 2011), is Barbara Lausche, J.D., who brings extensive experience in environmental law and policy at both national and international levels, with special focus on the unique features of ocean systems requiring special consideration. She also helped conceptualize and build foundation documents for the Institute prior to its launch and served as its Deputy Director from 2006-2010.
The immediate past Director (2006-2010), Dr. Frank Alcock, then Assistant Professor of Political Science at New College of Florida, who took a short sabbatical to help formally launch the Institute and continued thereafter on a part-time arrangement. He brought extensive experience in social science and policy research in marine affairs, and has continued to serve as a senior advisor.

Internships

MPI also regularly invites and supervises internships (through the Mote Internship Program) with university students in various stages of their higher education who have interest in marine policy and, where possible, have had course work in marine science or environmental studies. Internship research projects are designed to contribute to the intern’s educational goals as well as support MPI’s program. Research topics have included marine law and policy associated with sea level rise, restoration of Sarasota Bay scallops with citizen scientists, tracking international events relevant for marine conservation and connectivity, Florida seagrass conservation, monitoring changing policy and law developments of MPAs globally, marine connectivity network building and information exchange, and ocean sustainable investing.

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Policy Areas

Citizen Science

Citizen Science is increasingly popular among scientists, organizations, communities, and the public worldwide. It involves volunteers of all ages supporting conservation efforts through activities like data collection and fieldwork.

In the mid-1990s, Mote scientists, along with the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, launched a scallop restoration project to reintroduce scallops into Sarasota Bay. Scallop populations had plummeted statewide since the 1960s due to water quality decline, red tide, seagrass loss, and overharvesting, leading to the closure of commercial harvesting in the early 1990s. The project later became the Shellfish Restoration Initiative. In 2012-13, Mote joined a global project led by the Japanese Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, examining community-scientist collaboration. This expanded the restoration project into a Mote-Community Partnership, engaging citizen scientists to restore scallops and improve environmental quality. It involved local scientists, volunteers, fishers, businesses, and government officials, with activities like scallop reintroduction, community fundraisers, and educational programs.

Satoumi Science https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-7491-4 (Chapter 13, pp. 239-256)

Synopsis and Progress Report on Survey Work for the Mote Community Partnership: Scallop Restoration Initiative, Zoe Muzyczka, 2015

Marine Protected Areas

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are crucial for conserving biodiversity-rich and endangered ocean regions. These areas, managed by various stakeholders, have specific conservation goals and varying levels of protection to support marine life while limiting human activity.

MPAs serve as refuges for marine species, protecting them from overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution. They safeguard critical ecosystems, such as coral reefs, and provide resilience against climate change while facilitating marine research.

MPI’s involvement focuses on monitoring and providing legal and policy guidance for MPA design and management. In collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the MPI Director co-authored the 2011 Guidelines for Protected Areas Legislation, offering guidance on law and policy, with a section dedicated to MPAs.

Marine Spatial Planning

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is a main tool for achieving area-based management that can effectively deliver marine conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of our ocean and coastal environments. This tool is especially critical for proper siting, design, and management of individual marine protected areas and associated conservation networks to ensure protection of key biodiversity sites (both for species and ecosystems), their connectivity needs, and compatibility of uses adjacent to or impacting such conservation areas.

MPS is a relatively new planning tool for many countries, but the field is advancing rapidly and receiving heightened attention because of growing alarm over the deteriorating state of the planet’s ocean and the critical role the ocean plays supporting and sustaining all life. MPI’s international work in this field has included a project to prepare guidance on Integrated planning–Policy and law tools for biodiversity conservation and climate change. This guidance contains considerations for law and policy (across landscapes/seascapes), and a specific chapter highlighting marine unique features needing attention for integrated planning of the marine environment.

Marine Connectivity Conservation

Ecological connectivity, defined as the unimpeded movement of species and natural processes, is vital for biodiversity conservation and sustaining ocean ecosystems. However, it’s one of the least applied criteria in Marine Protected Area (MPA) design due to its complexity in measurement.

Since 2010, MPI has collaborated with international experts to develop law and policy guidance for connectivity conservation, with an initial focus on climate change and biodiversity. In 2013, MPI published The Legal Aspects of Connectivity Conservation, addressing both land and sea. In 2020, broader guidance was issued in Guidelines for Conserving Connectivity, with contributions from the MPI Director on marine environments.

MPI continues to lead connectivity conservation efforts through its role as Chair of the IUCN’s Marine Connectivity Working Group. This group, with over 100 marine conservation practitioners, advances marine connectivity policies and practices. The MPI Director also led the development of Marine Connectivity Conservation ‘Rules of Thumb’ for MPA Design, now being tested globally through case studies.

In 2023, the MPI Director working other MCWG members organized a presentation on marine connectivity at the 5^thInternational Marine Protected Area Congress (IMPAC5) which was converted to an article for the journal Marine Policy, available online in June 2024: Marine connectivity conservation: Guidance for MPA and MPA network design and management

Climate Change and the Ocean

Since its inception, MPI has focused on the connection between climate change and ocean health in its law and policy research. The ocean plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change, absorbing 30% of CO2 and 90% of excess heat caused by human activities. However, its capacity to safely store carbon is nearing its limit.

As a carbon sink, the ocean absorbs and stores vast amounts of carbon, helping regulate the global climate. Phytoplankton near the surface absorb as much CO2 as the world’s forests, while deep currents and seafloor sediments store carbon for centuries. This dynamic interaction supports both marine ecosystems and the global climate.

In 2023, the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy emphasized that the ocean’s role in absorbing 25% of carbon dioxide emissions and 90% of excess heat has led to warming, acidification, and rising sea levels.

Sea level rise

MPI’s policy research covers areas like sea level rise, seagrass in decarbonization, and carbon credits. Since 2007, MPI has led various projects on sea level rise, including the 2013 report Sea Level Rise Adaptation: Emerging Lessons for Local Policy Development and a brochure on local adaptation, updated in 2018. MPI continues to work with local governments on climate resilience through data updates and community consultations.

Sea level rise in the face of climate change

There is broad scientific consensus that global climate is warming largely as a result of increased concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Sea level rise in the coming decades is anticipated to be a major effect of climate change with mostly negative impacts for many coastal regions, including Florida.

Managing the impacts of sea level rise will require adapting human activities in the coming decades through decisive policies, programs and actions so that critical human systems—communities, economies, emergency response systems—and natural resources—wetlands, coastal ecosystems, fisheries—can continue to function effectively as ‘resilient’ systems in the face of climate change.

Scientists advise that many anticipated impacts from sea level rise can be addressed through early planning and well-designed adaptive responses.

The Marine Policy Institute undertakes research on policy tools and opportunities that can help local Florida governments develop strategies to deal with climate-associated sea level rise and adapt to its impacts.

In 2009, MPI published a synopsis entitled “Policy Tools for Local Adaptation to Sea Level Rise.” The synopsis condenses main issues and observations from the full report and abstracts the full assessment in the following sections:

Basics about climate change science and sea level rise.
Highlights from policy tools for local adaptation to sea level rise.
Key principles of adaptation from emerging experience.
Leadership opportunities going forward.

With the support of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (and funding from US EPA through its Climate Resilience project), MPI also produced a brochure on tips for local adaptation planning to sea level rise, initially published in 2014, with an updated edition in 2018: Sea Level Rise – tips for adaptation planning.

See sea level rise in action with an interactive map of sea level rise in Sarasota or take our short survey on sea level rise and climate change.

Sea level rise activity elsewhere

The Marine Policy Institute (MPI) at Mote Marine Laboratory has been monitoring how other coastal jurisdictions are responding to climate-related sea level rise with adaptation policies and actions to address negative impacts over the near and long term.

MPI has researched key aspects of these initiatives and periodically prepares summaries of the processes and policy responses underway. The objective is to help provide information about experiences and lessons being learned elsewhere to help local decision makers along Florida’s Gulf Coast stay informed about the latest sea level rise adaptation strategies.

Other sea level rise projects include research with MPI interns. Some have produced published papers such as: Sea Level Rise Adaptation: Emerging Lessons for Local Policy Development, Mote Technical Report No. 1723, 2013, which review experiences from fourteen U.S. coastal jurisdictions representing a variety of city, county, and state efforts with sea level adaptation.

San Fransisco, CA
Chula Vista, CA

Carbon sequestration through seagrass restoration and expansion

Carbon sequestration through seagrass restoration involves storing carbon in ecosystems that absorb more carbon than they release. Biological carbon sequestration occurs in vegetation such as kelp forests, mangroves, and seagrass beds, playing a key role in reducing atmospheric carbon and mitigating climate change.

Seagrass beds act as carbon sinks and provide essential habitats for marine life. In 2022, MPI researched seagrass policy in Florida, focusing on relevant laws, the role of genetic research in seagrass restoration, and identifying priority areas for restoration. This research was published in Overview of Seagrass Policy and Action in Florida (Mote Technical Report No. 2664).

Blue carbon credits

In 2023, MPI began exploring how marine carbon sequestration, such as through seagrass and mangrove restoration, could support carbon credits for ocean conservation. This could provide financial backing for Mote’s projects while increasing blue carbon sequestration.

Carbon credits allow companies to offset their carbon emissions, with each credit representing one ton of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. Blue carbon credits work similarly but focus on marine ecosystems like tidal marshes, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests. These ecosystems absorb significant amounts of carbon and help mitigate climate change.

Blue carbon credits not only offset carbon but also support biodiversity. The funds from carbon credits help organizations expand greenhouse gas-reducing projects, such as planting mangroves and restoring kelp forests.

Examples of blue carbon projects include planting mangrove sea trees, planting seagrass and algae, planting coral sea trees, restoring kelp forests. For interesting projects already underway, see https://seatrees.org/pages/about-us-blue-carbon.

Sustainable Investing in Conservation

In 2022, MPI began researching sustainable investing for conservation as part of a joint project with IUCN. This led to the 2023 publication Sustainable Investing in Protected Areas and Biodiversity, which explores the rise of ESG (environment, social, governance) investing and the financial tools being tested to support conservation. MPI is now focusing on sustainable ocean investments, considering the unique challenges of marine environments, with outputs expected in 2025-26.

Monitoring US Ocean-related Law and Policy

Over the last half century, U.S. ocean policy has been developed in a piecemeal fashion, largely in response to specific events, temporal needs, and crises. A comprehensive national ocean policy is still a work in progress. In contrast to other developed countries, the United States has been slow to develop a national ocean policy following the conclusion of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which went into force in 1994 (the US has never ratified this global ocean treaty).

MPI continues to monitor initiatives within the US government, in particular, to enact and effectively implement a national ocean policy. The remainder of this section outlines the major steps taken.

In 1972, three issue-specific laws were enacted targeting distinct problems or policy goals associated with ocean conservation: the Coastal Zone Management Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and the Marine Mammals Protection Act.
In 2000, after years of debate, Congress finally passed The Oceans Act (P.L. 106-256), which established a U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and set out measures for the Executive Branch to undertake.
In 2001, because of frustration over the slow government response, an independent group of ocean experts was set up, called the Pew Commission being funded by the Pew Charitable Trust.
In 2003, the Pew Commission released a report: America’s Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change, with guidance to the US Government on needed actions to advance The 2000 Ocean Act. The report listed 26 recommendations packaged into six categories: 1) Governance for Sustainable Seas, 2) Restoring America’s fisheries, 3) Preserving Our Coasts, 4) Cleaning Coastal Waters, 5) Guiding Sustainable Marine Aquaculture, and 6) Science, Education, and Funding. This report remains a major contribution to the development of US ocean law and policy today.
In 2004, the US Commission on Ocean Policy established under The Oceans Act of 2000 issued its own report of recommendations for action. Entitled An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century, this report contained 212 recommendations, highlighted by 13 critical areas, including to establish a National Ocean Council in the Executive Office of the President, strengthen NOAA and improve the federal agency structure, implement the national Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty (still not done), double the nation’s investment in ocean research, and create a coordinated management regime for federal waters.
In December, 2004, the White House submitted to Congress a report entitled S. Ocean Action Plan, pursuant to a requirement of The Ocean Act of 2000 that the President submit, within 120 days of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy final report, a response to the findings of the Commission.
In December 2004, with submission of its final report, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy was formally closed. In its place, a Joint Ocean Commission Initiative was formed as a collaborative effort of the U.S. Commission of Ocean Policy and the Pew Commission with the aim to accelerate the pace of change in ocean policy. This initiative issued several reports, including From Sea to Shining Sea: Priorities for Ocean Policy Reform, in response to a request from a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators to identify the most important priorities for Congressional action. This included creating a National Ocean Policy and fostering ecosystem-based regional governance.
In 2010, the country’s first National Ocean Policy was established by Executive Order of the President (No. 13457) to begin to address the significant gap in the American policy system–the lack of a single, unified strategy to manage coastal and ocean ecosystems. It also created a National Ocean Council. It was viewed by science and policy experts as an unprecedented step in finally developing a comprehensive national ocean policy. However, inspite of best efforts within the ocean and policy constituencies, this Executive Order was never translated into law.
In 2018, the next President rescinded the 2010 Executive Order by another Executive Order (13840). This new Executive Order established an Ocean Policy Committee.
In 2021, the Ocean Policy Committee (OPC) was codified by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 to coordinate Federal actions on ocean-related matters. Its roots were in the 2010 National Ocean Council and 2018 Ocean Policy Committee established by Executive Orders as noted above. Today, the OPC is co-chaired by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. It is directed to engage and collaborate with the ocean community on ocean-related matters, facilitate coordination and integration of Federal activities in ocean and coastal waters to inform ocean policy, identify priority ocean science and technology needs, and to leverage resources and expertise to maximize the effectiveness of Federal investments in ocean research. The OPC is supported by NOAA.
In June 2024, during National Ocean Month, the White House announced three new federal strategies aimed to advance conservation and protection of the ocean overall out to the limits of US jurisdiction (200 nautical miles). These are the: l) US National Strategy for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, a report of the Ocean Policy Committee; 2) National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy, and 3) National Aquatic eDNA Strategy, both latter reports by an Interagency Working Group on Biodiversity of the US Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee (OST). Led by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the OST Subcommittee is composed of 30 Departments and Agencies across the Federal government.

Monitoring International Ocean-related Law and Policy

Since launching MPI, an ongoing activity has been monitoring international law and policy related to marine conservation and sustainable use. Local actions impacting local marine and coastal environments and marine resources eventually (either in the near- or long-term) have impacts with regional and global scope, whether through toxic or nutrient pollution, over-exploitation of fisheries or other marine life, destruction of critical habitats, oil spills, or unsustainable use of coastal or off-shore waters.

In that context, modern international law and policy initiatives are increasingly responding to growing ocean concerns and crises, including from climate change, because of the global-local connection.

International law and policy initiatives which MPI is particularly focused on include:

New High Seas Biodiversity Treaty (short-hand ‘BBNJ’, for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction). After almost two decades of negotiations, United Nations member countries in June 2023 finally concluded an international treaty to protect oceans of the world that lie outside national borders, known as “high seas”(nearly two-thirds of the planet’s surface). This new treaty gives authority to states or groups of states to set up MPAs in the High Seas, something not available through the parent 1994 Law of the Sea Treaty. MPI provided comments on working drafts especially on MPA provisions and marine connectivity as part of the formal comment process managed by IUCN. The Treaty is now open for State ratification, 60 of which are needed for its entry into force. Treaty information, including the text, can be accessed
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), concluded in 1992, contains many specific requirements and targets for marine biodiversity. Importantly, in 2023 the CBD Conference of Parties (COPs) approved a new Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF with 4 overarching goals for 2050 and 23 specific targets for countries to achieve by 2030. Prominent for the marine environment are Targets 2 and 3 (countries are to restore at least 30 per cent of their degraded marine ecosystems and formally protect at least 30 per cent of their marine waters, respectively). MPI provided comments on drafts through the IUCN formal process. Information on the GBF can be found
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), especially progress (called the Global Stocktake) 2015 net-zero emissions pledges of countries (Paris Agreement). The November 2024 COP 29 will include two major ocean-climate change linked topics also important to monitor: marine biodiversity conservation and coastal resilience, and technology needs for the ocean – climate action, including finance links. MPI is especially monitoring these developments because without significant climate change mitigation, other ocean conservation measures will be overpowered by negative climate impacts (rising temperatures, acidification, extreme weather events, changing ocean currents, reduced ocean-atmospheric stability, eutrophication, etc.),
United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). Proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has the mandate to coordinate preparations and implementation of the Ocean Decade. In furtherance of this mandate, IOC issued a State of the Ocean Report 2024. Among key findings are the following: The rate of ocean warming has doubled in 20 years; coastal species are suffocating from declining oxygen levels; blue carbon and MPAs are beacons of hope. This report is open access and can be found here. More information on the Ocean Decade can be found here.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)(concluded in 2015, to be met by 2030), including SDG Target 14 (Life on Water) which aims to conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development, a goal that is among the least funded of the SDGs. Information on this and all goals can be found here.
Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), focused on marine migratory species, many of which are listed in the Convention’s Appendix I which lists marine migratory species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range; range states are to strictly protect these species and their critical habitat. Appendix II lists migratory species with an unfavourable conservation status requiring international agreements for their conservation and management, as well as those which have a conservation status which would significantly benefit from the international cooperation that could be achieved by an international agreement. Both lists include several species of sharks and sea turtles. See Appendices here.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is a multilateral treaty, signed by 184 countries in 1975, to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. which lists endangered species that cannot be part of international trade unless sustainable management plans are verified. In 2022, member governments of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted to give an additional 97 shark species greater protection via an Appendix II listing. Together with already listed species, more than 90% of the global fin trade is now under CITES control. Pursuant to this decision, exports and re-exports of the new listed species will not be allowed from any of the 180 States Parties unless they have been authorized by the designated national authorities. Scientific information used as evidence for the decision was provided by shark scientific researchers, including the Director of Mote’s Shark Program. See more about CITES here.

Early Initiatives

Oil Drilling in the South

In 2010, the Director of Mote’s Marine Policy Institute, Dr. Frank Alcock produced a report to Florida’s Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida called “Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Explorations in the Gulf.”

The report, co-authored with Tom Arthur, was requested by the Florida Senate to assist that body with a detailed and comprehensive review of the implications of offshore drilling.

The Deepwater Horizon oil disaster occurred during the spring and summer of 2010. This incident, combined with the potential that vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska could be opened to oil and natural gas drilling, have continued to feed Florida’s discussion of oil and natural gas exploration.

The report was written to provide a source of unbiased information regarding what is known and not known about the potential risks and rewards of offshore drilling. The Report is structured around four topics:

Regulatory Framework
Resources, Economic Benefits, and Energy Independence
Environmental Risks, Permitting and Accident Response
Aesthetics and Opportunity Costs

Land-Sea Interactions

On Oct. 12 and 13, 2009, the Marine Policy Institute presented a two-day symposium at Mote Marine Laboratory focused on coastal zone planning in the context of changing land-sea interactions in the Southwest Florida region. The symposium focused on the growth management challenges posed by sea-level rise.

Topics included:

Land use and associated property rights issues
Emergency preparedness and post-disaster planning
Leadership roles for the public and private sectors, including local, state and federal governments
Regional governance capacity building

Red tide

The Marine Policy Institute released its first policy assessment in August 2007, offering an overview of past and current red tide research and providing recommendations for future efforts.

The document provides an overview of historical and current red tide research and public discussion, covering areas as diverse as the cause of Florida’s red tide and governance issues, to the effects red tide has on Florida residents and marine species and the state’s economy.

According to MPI Director Dr. Alcock, a former Belfer Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a key theme of the Institute’s work is on land-sea interactions. The public concern surrounding red tides — including questions about interactions between coastal runoff and bloom severity and duration — made the topic a natural for the Institute’s first report.

“There have been decades of research surrounding Florida’s red tide — and much has been learned,” he said. “Yet research has failed to identify a primary cause for the blooms, leading to frustration among policymakers, stakeholder groups and the general public. We can’t let unresolved questions detract from two important agendas: reducing coastal pollution and responding to red tide. Florida needs to reduce coastal pollution for reasons that go beyond red tide, and its response to red tide needs to go beyond reducing coastal pollution. We need to push forward with both agendas regardless of their linkage.”

The Institute initiated its assessment of Florida red tide with the following tasks in mind:

Survey the broad range of research activity pertaining to Florida red tides
Translate research results into understandable language
Synthesize and integrate the most relevant research findings in a manner that responds to the most pressing questions put forth by policy makers, stakeholders, scientists and the public
Assess alternative management strategies and existing regulatory frameworks
Provide guidance where appropriate

Read the full report: An Assessment of Florida Red Tide: Causes, Consequences and Management Strategies

StormSmart

StormSmart Connect: A Gulf of Mexico Network on Coastal Coordination Abstract by Luke Maier, Intern with Mote’s Marine Policy Institute

The Marine Policy Institute (MPI) monitors some of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s (GoMA) web tools to keep track of what other coastal communities, counties, and states in the Gulf of Mexico are doing to address climate change, especially concerning sea level rise. The community is encouraged to also utilize these web tools.

GoMA began with an agreement among the Governors of the 5 Gulf states, including Florida. GoMA focuses on five main categories, with Mote’s MPI being most involved in the Coastal Community Resilience and Community of Practice working groups to contribute to regional discourse on sea level rise.The GoMA Governors’ Action Plan 2, adopted by the five then governors of the Gulf states, called for an online intercoastal information network to be set up; this role has now been fulfilled by StormSmart. Floridian coastal communities can especially benefit from connecting to StormSmart, as it facilitates storm planning and sea level rise planning—environmental developments particularly pertinent to this area.

StormSmart’s primary uses

Connect with coastal decision makers and disaster planners.
Spread information about coastal research and events.
Act as a repository for research and information resources.

StormSmart’s tools

Links to major coastal storm and climate chance planning tools and research.
Online collaboration networks, large and small.
Weekly updates on regional science activities in the Gulf of Mexico States.
Calendar of collaboration events with GoMA.
State-by-state disaster response resource inventories of GoMA states.
Document and research report repository.

For instance, StormSmart contains links to the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program’s Charlotte Harbor Vulnerability Assessment, which recommends adaption tools for sea level rise and other climate coping.StormSmart also lists tools such as Hazard Identification and Mitigation reports specific to each member state.

The network currently supports 48 networking groups and 571 members from across the nation with most members coming from the Gulf states. The network houses working groups that focus on certain topics. Connect at: www.stormsmart.org.

Presentations

Sea Level Change: moving toward adaptation presented by Barbara Lausche, Director, Marine Policy Institute

Institute Support

The start-up phase of the Marine Policy Institute at Mote (2006-2010) was generously funded through a grant provided by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice.

Additional funding has been provided by the New Amsterdam Charitable Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald B. Morris and through a partnership with New College of Florida.

Memberships

IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) and WCEL Specialist Group on oceans.
IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), Specialist Group on Connectivity Conservation, Chair of CCSG Marine Connectivity Working Group.
International Council of Environmental Law.
IUCN Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas consortium (ICCA), invited honorary member as of January 2017
District of Columbia Bar Association

Early History

An Advisory Panel, composed of leading national marine science and policy experts, was established in 2006 for MPI’s start-up phase to advise on priorities and partnerships. Dr. Michael Orbach, then Professor of Marine Affairs and Policy, Duke University and Director of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, served as the Advisory Panel’s Chair and continued as a senior advisor to MPI until his retirement in 2014. In the early 2000s, Dr. Orbach had served as senior advisor to Mote Marine Laboratory’s Scientific Advisory Committee which in 2003 identified the need for a new policy component to complement the Research, Education and Aquarium divisions, the decision which led to the creation of the Institute.

The start-up phase was generously funded through a grant provided by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. Additional start-up funding was provided by the New Amsterdam Charitable Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald B. Morris and through a partnership with New College of Florida.

Early support also was provided by New College through the secondment of Professor Alcock as MPI’s first Director.

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