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The Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Liberty of the Seas entered service in May 2007. Peter Roy, Environmental Officer, has extended an offer to students of environmental/marine sciences to visit the ship. The Liberty of the Seas is based in Miami and for the foreseeable future the turnaround day is Saturdays from 0630 to 1700. Of particular interest is their advanced waste processing plant that treats all sewage, laundry and food wastes. Solids are separated and incinerated and the liquid fractions pass through a biological and chemical treatment process followed by U/V disinfection. Royal Caribbean believes Liberty of the Seas to be one of the most environmentally friendly cruise ships in the world, despite the size of the ship. A visit to the ship during the mentioned time will require prior arrangement and the invitation is intended for the coming months after the start of the fall 2007 semester. To make arrangements, please contact Peter Roy directly at LB_EnvironmentalOfficer@rccl.com . As reported in the May-June 2007 Faculty Progress Report, Sea Grant federal appropriations for FY06-07 were $55M, down from about $62M two years ago, or a 11% decline. These FY06-07 funds represent the source of our funds for the second year (February 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008) of our current research, extension and communications programs. Our funding levels were developed two years ago based on the higher appropriations level. In the end, the reduction to our core Florida Sea Grant budget was only 3.4%. This was possible because the National Sea Grant Office cancelled a number of national competitions, NOAA added a few internal funds to the Sea Grant budget and FSG benefited from being a highly ranked program (the bonus and merit funds portion of our allocation were not reduced). Using all our available resources, we were able to continue the current projects and programs at the planned level, without cutting the planned budgets. The House subcommittee mark for Sea Grant appropriations for the coming year is $57.5M and the Senate subcommittee mark is $60M. While this is an increase over last year, it does not get us to our former levels. We have exhausted our reserves and thus the next two years will likely see us operating at a slightly reduced level. The two-year proposal that we are now developing (to begin February 1, 2008) will reflect this change. We are continuing to work through the Sea Grant Association to increase our federal appropriations. The current call-back in state appropriations will also affect us, so the next two years at least will be see us operating on a frugal budget. The National Sea Grant College Program needs to be reauthorized during 2008. HR 2836 has been introduced by Representative Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) to reauthorize the National Sea Grant College Program. This bill makes no changes to the current bill except extending the authorization period and increasing the authorized funding levels. NOAA on behalf of the administration is also working on a reauthorization bill which will be presented to the House Natural Resources Committee. The Committee will consider the administration's draft bill, make its own changes and introduce a Sea Grant reauthorization bill. The Sea Grant Association is working with NOAA and the House Resources Committee to agree on as many sections of the bill as possible before the bill is introduced. A bill should be introduced in early fall. The review process continues on two-year research proposals that will be funded beginning February 1, 2008. A total of 24 full proposals are being considered. These resulted from the 88 Statements of Interest considered in the spring. Several peer reviews are currently being solicited for each proposal and a review panel of scientists will be convened during late August, 2007 to consider the reviews, provide their own reviews and advise FSG on which proposals to fund. It is anticipated that adequate funds will allow 10-12 of the full proposals to be funded. Review results should be received by the PIs by the end of August. 6. Sea Grant Director Position Opportunity The Virginia Sea Grant Program is seeking applicants for a new Director. The position is located at The Virginia Institute of Marine Science/College of William and Mary. Review of applications began July 1, 2007 but will continue until the position is filled. Full details are at http://www2.vims.edu/seagrant/ . |
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