Research
2026 Request for Proposals Period Now Open!
Funding Cycle February 1, 2026, to January 31, 2028
Pre-proposals due by Friday, February 14, 2025, at 5:00 PM, EST
Full Proposals due by Friday, May 30, 2025, at 5:00 PM, EDT
Featured Research
Researcher: Heather Preisendanz
Topic: Wastewater as an Indicator of the Physical and Mental Health of Pennsylvania Communities
Pennsylvania Sea Grant casts a wide net to gather input and data from partners across the Commonwealth to ensure that research topics focus on critical issues that impact our Great Lakes, coastlines, and watersheds. This research has the potential to yield solution-based results to assist decision makers, address pressing coastal and watershed issues, and develop or update statewide ecosystem management strategies.
Since 2012, Pennsylvania Sea Grant has invested $4.7 million, supporting 68 competitive research projects conducted by 23 institutions, which has also led to research experience for 146 undergraduate, and over 60 graduate students.
Natural History Museum
Pennsylvania Sea Grant oversees the Natural History Museum at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie, PA. The museum is a depository for natural history specimens collected primarily from northwest Pennsylvania, and serves as a resource for scientific studies of the ecology of the region.
Contact
Sean Rafferty, Ph.D., joined Pennsylvania Sea Grant in 2001, and currently serves as research director. Sean is responsible for directing and overseeing the Research and Fellowship Program; directing, overseeing, and conducting ecological-based research and extension projects;
