New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg has secured a $1 million marine research grant to supplement the Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering's decade-long research of the Gulf of Maine and the Georges Bank.
The essence of the research is to predict ocean currents, which cannot be measured realistically without computer models, Dartmouth Professor and Lead Researcher Daniel Lynch said.
The data gathered will aid in creating solutions to stopping the decline of marine resources and correct the ecosystem management problems.
After conversing with the leadership of the College regarding funding possibilities, Gregg felt the project merited his support and the assistance of federal funds, a spokesman for Gregg said.
"Gregg views the project as critical for the state of New Hampshire and New England in general. The Maine Gulf is under intense pressure from overfishing, and understanding more about the ecosystem will help develop policies that conserve the resources for the long term," a spokesman for Gregg said.
According to Lynch, the grant will be spent over three years and will be used in conjunction with other grants by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that manages coastal resources, and the National Science Foundation that have been in place for the past 10 years.
The new grant is an extension of previous work and has a technology transfer focus. The object of "transferring" software and computer data is to provide the best available resources to the management agencies who regulate commercial fishing, Lynch said.
Dartmouth researchers have previously created physics models of the Gulf of Maine and the Georges Bank and later have introduced population models of oceanic species.
"[The research] activities are synergistic to each other, but this new grant will focus on outreach activities towards the management agencies," Lynch said.
Measuring the salinity and temperature of the ocean, where fish and plankton populations live, are other areas of interest to be undertaken as a result of the grant.
Gregg is chairman of a Senate Appropriations Panel that funds NOAA. Dartmouth's previous work in marine research prompted Gregg's discussions with the College about additional funding. The upshot was the appropriation of a million dollars into NOAA's budget, the spokesman said.
Both undergraduates and graduate students have been continuously involved in the research. Their contribution to the projects includes building models, interpreting data, attending meetings and constructing websites, Lynch said.
The five students working on the project are "full partners in the process," Lynch said.
