Media: For comments, please contact immediate past provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNCW, Dr. Marvin Moss, now professor of physics and physical oceanography at UNCW, at 910/343-5794 or email to [email protected]; and Robert Wicklund, director of federal programs for UNCW, 540/962-8629 or email at [email protected].
For additional media assistance, contact Mimi Cunningham, UNCW, 910/962-3171 or [email protected] (from Nov. 1-3, call 340/773-2918); or Colleen Angeles, Dept. of Commerce/NOAA at 202/482-5647; or Stephanie Hanna, Dept. of the Interior, at 340/773-2100.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 1, 1999
NEW INSTITUTE TARGETS CARIBBEAN CORAL REEF RESEARCH
WILMINGTON, NC - The health of Caribbean coral reefs and related educational and economic development opportunities for the U.S. Virgin Islands will be the focus of the new Joint Institute for Caribbean Marine Studies announced today. The institute will be formally established Tuesday morning, Nov. 2, in signing ceremonies near Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, featuring Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and Dr. D. James Baker, Under Secretary of Commerce and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
These activities are being held in conjunction with the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force meeting there Nov. 2 and 3. The signing ceremony will take place at the castle home of Contessa de Navarro Farber which overlooks the former West Indies Marine Laboratory, now under her ownership.
The result of an effort spearheaded by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW), the Joint Institute for Caribbean Marine Studies will be comprised of a consortium of four universities participating with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Commerce/NOAA. Collaborating in this initiative with UNCW are the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (RU), and the University of South Carolina (USC). The purpose of the group is to develop and foster collaborative efforts in support of marine science and education in the U.S. Virgin Islands and adjacent regions.
Because the coral reef and other marine ecosystems of the U.S. Virgin Islands represent major visitor attractions and essential fish habitats, the health and future of these ecosystems are inextricably linked to the health and future of the islands' economy. Currently, the coral reef and other marine ecosystems are degrading significantly and are in critical need of research and understanding to guide future management decisions.
With the Department of the Interior and NOAA, the university consortium will work together to further the understanding of the marine environment, including coral reef ecosystems, to promote marine education and public awareness and to assist in the development of appropriate public policy within the Caribbean region.
Within this framework, the institute has committed to:
* fostering collaborative research programs to understand and sustainably manage the coral reef ecosystems of the Caribbean;
* providing support for marine educational programs for U.S. Virgin Island school children and adults;
* fostering cooperation with other government, international, and private organizations to better understand marine issues in the Caribbean;
* enriching the learning experiences and opportunities for UVI and other university students.
The institute will be governed by a board of directors with three representatives from DOI and NOAA and up to two from each member university. The initial chair of the board will be the representative from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington - former U.S. Sen. and Connecticut Gov. Lowell Weicker, a long-time ocean advocate and member of the UNCW Board of Visitors.
It is anticipated that a full-time director will be appointed within the next six months to be responsible for day-to-day operations, funding, scientific, and educational programs and safety of employees and visitors. The institute will work to establish a marine research and educational facility within the U.S. Virgin Islands, including research laboratories, classrooms, a lecture hall, teaching aquarium, boats and diving equipment, distance learning equipment, and housing for students, scientists, and visitors. UNCW will administer the programs of the institute.
A proposal has been made to Contessa Farber that the institute be allowed to lease the site of the former West Indies Laboratory on St. Croix. If approved, and once funding is acquired, it would be restored to serve as the site for the institute. The Department of the Interior and NOAA have committed to help find private partners to raise funds for renovation of the old West Indies Lab.
Scientists from each of the collaborating universities who specialize in coral reef and marine ecosystems will use this facility to conduct research. It is also envisioned that undergraduates and graduate students would take courses at the institute through the participating universities.
As the only public university in North Carolina adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, UNCW has gained international recognition in the marine sciences. Its undergraduate marine biology program is ranked fifth best in the world by the Gourman Report. When the new $17.5 million Center for Marine Science Research opens in 2000, the university will have one of the finest marine science education and research facilities on the East Coast. Supporting the university's mission by providing an environment that fosters a multidisciplinary approach to marine science questions, UNCW's CMSR promotes research in oceanography, coastal and wetland science, marine biotechnology and aquaculture, marine geology and marine biomedical and environmental physiology. The Center for Marine Science Research at UNCW also houses the Cape Fear River Program and the new Oceans and Human Health Program.
UNCW works with NOAA to support a variety of marine-related programs including the Sea Grant Program; National Undersea Research Center and Aquarius, the world's only underwater research laboratory, off Key Largo, FL; the Marine Mammal Stranding Network; and the N. C. National Estuarine Research Reserve Program.
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