Currents Fall 2012 Newsletter - Volume XXVII, Number 2

In this special issue of Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center’s (NSU OC) Currents newsletter, we are commemorating the opening of our new research facility: The Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research (CoE CRER). The 86,000-square-foot CoE CRER has been made possible in part by a grant fromtheU.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The grant of $15 million was more than matched by NSU and will provide urgently needed state-of-the-art research facilities while expanding scientific inquiry. Research in this new multidisciplinary research building is addressing national and international priorities in coral reef research in five themes: 1) Impacts of global and local stressors together with restoration; 2) Geospatial assessment and mapping; 3) Deep sea coral reefs and biodiversity; 4) Genetic and genomic connectivity; and 5) Hydrodynamics. Coral reef ecosystems throughout the world are extremely valuable biologically, environmentally, and economically. Florida coral reefs represent up to 84 percent of the area of coral reefs in the United States, contributing more than $6 billion in revenue and 71,000 jobs annually in South Florida alone. These exquisite, living natural resources have been in existence for more than 215 million years. They provide employment, food, recreation, biodiversity, habitat, chemicals for human health, and coastal protection. Millions of tourists and residents enjoy SCUBA diving, snorkeling, and fishing on coral reefs—activities that provide substantial income for residents of coastal communities and the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, the coral reefs of Florida, the nation, and the world are under extreme threat from both global and Oceanographic Center Celebrates Opening of Center of Excellence The Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research (continued on page 2) Special Edition local stressors. Research is urgently needed to improve understanding, management, and conservation. As one of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) external Coral Reef Institute partners, the NSU OC National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI) has long supported NOAA’s mission by providing outstanding scientific research to support federal, state, and local management and conservation in providing local, regional, national, and international research products that can offer solutions to the coral reef crisis. The CoE CRER will be the only research facility in the nation dedicated entirely to coral reef science. Major goals include fundamental research to find management and conservation solutions to pressing coral reef issues. Facilities include offices; laboratories; collaboration, research training, and fieldwork staging areas; SCUBA support areas; and sea water purification Fall 2012 Issue, Volume XXVII, Number 2