July 21, 2003 — The Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology was established in 1997 as a national center for the development of innovative environmental technologies for the monitoring, management and prevention of contamination and degradation in estuaries and coastal waters. The institute is an unique partnership between NOAA and the University of New Hampshire, promoting collaboration among academia, government and the private sector. CICEET is located on the UNH campus and jointly managed by NOAA and UNH Co-Directors, Dwight Trueblood, Ph.D., and Richard Langan, Ph.D., respectively. CICEET uses the capabilities of the University and those of the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in New Hampshire, as well as the other 24 reserves in the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System, to develop and apply new environmental technologies and techniques — some of which have even been commercialized. A Board comprised of representatives from UNH, NOAA, New Hampshire Sea Grant, two National Estuarine Research Reserves, one state Coastal Zone Management Program, and the Estuarine Research Federation also provides guidance on research and public service issues.

How NOAA Benefits from CICEET
All CICEET projects are affiliated with one or more of the 25 estuarine reserves from the NOAA Ocean Service’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System. The relationship is an extremely beneficial one. The NERRS provides CICEET with ecosystems (both pristine and impacted) that serve as platforms for research. CICEET, in turn, helps to upgrade the capacities of the NERRS, helping the reserves fulfill their function of providing research, education and stewardship to their respective regions. CICEET also supports enhancement of the System-Wide Monitoring Program, which measures change in estuarine water quality, habit and land use. CICEET is working to better leverage NERRS resources by involving them more explicitly in the grants competition process. Educators and researchers are on staff at all 25 reserves, and these people can be of enormous help in guiding CICEET-funded researchers to the individuals who can best use the new technology. Especially relevant are the coastal training program coordinators at the reserves. These positions — created within the last two years — are part of an effort within the NERRS program to better understand local and regional research needs.

In 2001, CICEET announced its partnership with another NOAA Ocean Service Office — the Office of Response and Restoration — to support the development of innovative technologies to deal with oil contamination in estuaries. Like the relationship with NERRS, CICEET’s relationship with OR&R is mutually beneficial. OR&R has expertise in understanding oil spills and oil contamination, CICEET has expertise in developing new environmental technologies. In 2002, four two-year projects were funded under this partnership.

CICEET History
In 1997, a group of environmental scientists at the UNH, together with New Hampshire senator Judd Gregg (Republican), pitched an idea to NOAA. The idea was to create a new institute that would take advantage of a growing core of UNH marine and estuarine scientists with expertise in engineering and applied life sciences (i.e., ecology, biology and chemistry). The concept had the institute working through the nearby Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (and along New Hampshire's 18-mile seacoast), to come up with innovative technologies and methods for addressing pressing ecological problems in the coastal and estuarine zones. NOS approved of and expanded upon the idea seeing an opportunity to create a synergistic partner for the NERR system, a partner that could add to and enhance the research being conducted at the 25 NOAA estuarine reserves across the nation. From that point on, “CICEET” as a cooperative institute with national influence was born. Therefore from the beginning, CICEET was about pragmatism and synergy: "pragmatism" because the institute is focused on solving pressing issues facing today's coastal and estuarine resource managers, and "synergy" because the institute was designed to enhance existing resources, such as the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System.

Progress Over the Years
In the six years since its inception in 1997, CICEET has slowly sculpted its research focus, nurtured its relationship with the reserve system, and is now devoting more energy to making good on its promise to transfer new tools from the research arena to the management arena, where products are made accessible to coastal decision makers and possibly in to the commercial market.

Since 1997, one or more CICEET projects have taken place at all 25 reserves, and currently active CICEET projects are taking place at 22 reserves. In addition to the competitive grants process, CICEET also funds specific endeavors aimed at enhancing the ability of the estuarine reserves to fulfill their mission of advancing regional science and stewardship. For example, the institute has supported the enhancement of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System-Wide Monitoring Program — by investing in better data collection and dissemination — and is currently funding a two-year effort to assess the best way to incorporate remote sensing technologies into the reserve program:

• Data Acquisition and Access: Coastal managers need faster methods for collecting habitat and water quality data and easier access to the data as its being collected — ideally in “real-time.” Two CICEET projects based at the North Carolina reserve address these needs. Specifically, this CICEET data collection project resulted in a valuable instrument development by a private industry partner, Marisys, Inc. Marisys designed and built a compact, waterproof survey controller, complete with user-friendly software and the ability to accept data from a global positioning device, water quality sensors as well as video and acoustic sonar inputs. The device also proved to be the link necessary to wiring the entire NERRS to a real-time water quality data network. By the end of 2003, CICEET expects all 25 reserves in the system to have a workable system for real-time data access and management.
• Remote Sensing: Although remote sensing technology has been available for 20 years, there has been little effort to examine the range of technologies available to reserve managers. A two year CICEET funded project, which began in the fall of 2002, will analyze different GIS systems in terms of image processing, image enhancement, image classification and accuracy. Finally, issue-specific remote sensing technologies will be recommended for use within NERRS (e.g., nutrient enrichment, habitat degradation/loss to restoration and pathogens and toxic contamination) and later integrated into coastal zone management applications at both the state and local levels.

CICEET Project Explorer Web Module
CICEET continued to use both electronic and conventional means to spread the word about new CICEET products. For example, CICEET used workshops to help a group of project principal investigators explore technology transfer strategies. As noted above, CICEET is also exploring strategies for involving outreach personnel and potential end users in the research from the inception of each project.

A recently released Web module, the CICEET Project Explorer, is a pivotal step in allowing the CICEET staff to quickly disseminate new data and information. Project Explorer is the virtual stage where researchers, resource managers, planners and private consultants can quickly get information on areas of interest (i.e., remediation of contaminated sediments, pathogen detection and new remote sensing technologies for assessing intertidal shellfish beds).

For those interested in finding out what kind of projects CICEET supports, a quick search of Project Explorer is very effective. The Project Explorer interface allows one to quickly search through CICEET projects; each time one presses the “Next” button, a new project, complete with picture and short summary, appears on the page. Additional information on the project may include: related Web sites, presentations or printable one-page fliers. An even closer search reveals a spectrum of results in terms of how CICEET research is being transferred to coastal decision makers.

In the short time that the Project Explorer has been available to Web site visitors, the feedback has been very positive. For most users, the searchable database has proven to be scientifically informative, easy to use and focused on application. Since the purpose of the database is to actually reflect the progress and direction of CICEET's overall mission, this feedback suggests that NOAA's investment in CICEET is paying dividends and will continue to do so in the future.

It is because of CICEET’s great successes that the NOAA Reserve Program and OR&R have and will continue to support CICEET for years to come!

Relevant Web Sites
Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology

NOAA Home page

University of New Hampshire

Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in New Hampshire

NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System

National Sea Grant Web page

NOAA Ocean Service

NERR System-Wide Monitoring Program

NERR Coastal Training Program

NOAA Office of Response and Restoration

NOAA's REMOTE SENSING ACTIVITIES

CICEET Project Explorer Web module

NOAA ANNOUNCES $17 MILLION IN GRANTS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE NATURE CONSERVANCY

New Hampshire Year of the Ocean Web page