PENNSYLVANIA SEA GRANT ANNOUNCES $1.6 MILLION INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH
Funds will support six research projects that address critical aquatic ecosystem and watershed challenges
February 2025
(ERIE, PA) –The Pennsylvania Sea Grant College Program is pleased to announce $1.6 million in funding for critical aquatic and watershed-related research in Pennsylvania. Funding includes $1,032,052 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and $583,338 in matching funds from awarded institutions. Pennsylvania Sea Grant conducts and supports scientific research that enhances the use and conservation of Pennsylvania’s coastal, watershed, and Great Lakes resources.
The current biennial research investment supports researchers and students affiliated with Allegheny College, Lehigh University, Millersville University, Penn State Erie, the Behrend College, Penn State Extension, Penn State Hazleton, Stroud Water Research Center, Temple University, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, The Pennsylvania State University, and Ursinus College.
“Pennsylvania Sea Grant’s competitive research program supports researchers and students investigating critical ecological and economic issues impacting communities and watersheds across the Commonwealth,” said Dr. Sean Rafferty, Research Director for the program. “This research support has the potential to produce solution-based results that contribute to enhanced water quality and natural resource management strategies in Pennsylvania.”
The research will take place 2024 through 2026. Research topics include:
- A comprehensive assessment of the barriers and drivers of GSI adoption centered on ordinances in small and small to medium-sized municipalities in Pennsylvania
- Groundwater and Nutrient Inputs, Sequestration and Direct and Indirect Fluxes to Lake Erie Coastal Waters associated with Viticultural Activities, Erie County, PA
- Microbial Menaces on Microplastics: A Spatiotemporal Study in the Schuylkill River Watershed
- Per-and polyfluoroalkyl occurrence and concentrations in lentic invasive snakehead populations: identifying gene expression signatures of toxicity with implications for human consumption advisories
- Predicting the impacts and spread for an emerging invasion of non-native round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) in a stream biodiversity hotspot (French Creek, Pennsylvania)
- Research, Develop, and Evaluate New Ocean, Great Lakes, and Watershed Curricula for the New PA Standards
- Understanding the food web impacts of the invasive northern snakehead on Pennsylvania’s largest tidal freshwater wetland
- Using sorbent media to address the impact of deicing salt on contaminant dynamics in infiltration-based green stormwater management: nitrogen, metals, and poly-/perfluoroalkyl substances
Since 2012, Pennsylvania Sea Grant has invested $8.8 million to support 76 competitive research projects at 38 institutions, which has also led to research experience for 160 undergraduate, 38 graduate, and 31 Ph.D. students. Research funding includes $4,553,769 from NOAA, $1,158,844 from The Pennsylvania State University, and $3,136,265 in matching funds from awarded institutions.
Learn more about Pennsylvania Sea Grant research online at https://seagrant.psu.edu
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