Baton Rouge, La. — The RESTORE Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana (Center) is soliciting feedback on a draft Research Strategy. The Research Strategy guides the competitive research that the Center supports, and its focus is issues pertinent to Louisiana, with emphasis on advancing Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan. The Research Strategy identifies key topical near-term (< 2 years) and mid-term (2–5 years) research needs including articulation of the scientific and technical problems underlying these needs, potential outcomes, and multi-disciplinary opportunities. The draft Research Strategy was developed in coordination with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), a Technical Working Group comprised of researchers from Louisiana academic institutions, Research Strategy Contributing Experts, and participants of a Coastal Research Priorities Town Hall meeting held in conjunction with Louisiana Sea Grant.
Since the Research Strategy will guide competitive research grants, it is written for a technical audience. In addition, the Strategy does not specify geographies or research methods in order to allow researchers to be innovative in their proposed approach. The Center has posted the draft Research Strategy online and welcomes the public to review and provide feedback. In particular, the Center is looking for feedback on the research needs listed.
The document can be downloaded as a PDF from the Center’s website (www.LA-COE.org). Feedback on the Research Strategy should be emailed to LA-COE@thewaterinstitute.org by Monday, November 7, 2016. The Center will take all comments into consideration and revise the Research Strategy, as appropriate, following discussion with CPRA. The Center will not respond to individual comments.
Additional information on the RESTORE Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana can be found at www.LA-COE.org. All questions should be directed to LA-COE@thewaterinstitute.org.
Please distribute this solicitation to others who may wish to provide comments on the Research Strategy.
About The RESTORE Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana
The mission of the RESTORE Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana is to provide research directly relevant implementation of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan by administering a competitive grants program and providing the appropriate coordination and oversight support to ensure that success metrics are tracked and achieved. The Center is a separate program within The Water Institute of the Gulf, which is a not-for-profit, independent research institute dedicated to advancing the understanding of coastal, deltaic, river and water resource systems, both within the Gulf Coast and around the world.