Key Accomplishments in 2017

1 Awarded 6 Safer Offshore Energy System Grants totaling $10.8 million to support efforts to develop new technologies, processes, or procedures that could result in improved understanding and management of systemic risk in offshore oil and gas operations.

2 Awarded 4 Thriving Communities Grants totaling $10.8 million in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support efforts to enhance the science and practice of resilience in coastal communities in the Gulf of Mexico region.

3 Awarded 12 Capacity Building Grants totaling $3.2 million to support community-driven, science-based efforts to improve coastal environments and community health in U.S. coastal regions.

4 Awarded 3 Collaboration Grants totaling $147,000 as seed funding to support collaboration and cross-disciplinary research among the Gulf Research Program (GRP) network of past and current Early-Career Research Fellows.

5 Awarded 10 scientists with Early-Career Research Fellowships totaling $760,000 to provide them with flexible financial support for research and professional development during the pre-tenure phase of their careers.

6 Awarded 9 scientists with Science Policy Fellowships totaling $465,000 to support their professional development through a year-long experience working at the interface of science and policy at government agencies in the Gulf of Mexico region.

7 Opened 4 new grant competitions for grants to be awarded in 2018:

• $3–4 million for Healthy Ecosystems Grants to support efforts to develop or test new technologies or methods for monitoring or evaluating environmental restoration projects to improve future restoration efforts.
• $1–2 million for Thriving Communities Grants to support efforts to improve the information available to decision makers for evaluating public health risks resulting from oil spills.
• $3 million for Capacity Building Grants to support efforts to advance the scientific and environmental literacy and problem-solving skills of children and youth.
• $2 million for Scientific Research Disaster Recovery Grants to assist scientific research efforts impacted by Gulf Coast hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

8 Supported 6 National Academies consensus studies and 2 National Academies workshops on a variety of topics relevant to the GRP focus areas to inform future investments. This included completing the first GRP-led consensus study focused on identifying knowledge gaps and providing recommendations to improve understanding and prediction of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System.

9 Refined long-term vision and established long-term plans for future funding opportunities and investments. This included articulating new mission and vision statements, defining a timeline for predictable annual cycles of short-term funding opportunities, and laying the groundwork for a suite of larger, interrelated, long-term investments that the GRP will be launching during the next few years and that will continue to be implemented for the remainder of the GRP’s 30-year lifespan.