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TOWARD NEW PARTNERSHIPS IN OCEAN SCIENCES 35 



Other federal agencies. Sea Grant also provides public service 

 through its marine extension and public information components. 

 The partnership has been successful, but its prospects foj growth 

 are limited by budget constraints. Further interaction with the 

 academic community will depend on whether the program can 

 find new directions that will justify increased funding. 



NOAA also has marine laboratories located near academic oceano- 

 graphic institutions. The laboratories often support graduate stu- 

 dents who carry out thesis research of direct interest to NOAA. 

 Educational opportunities for federal employees range from for- 

 mal degree programs to seminars and library facilities available at 

 universities. There are also opportunities for cooperative research 

 programs and several NOAA/university joint institutes have been 

 developed. Cooperative agreements between academic and fed- 

 eral laboratories should be expanded to develop stronger intellec- 

 tual ties between NOAA and the universities. 



NOAA provides modest extramural research funds as part of its 

 Climate and Global Change Program and its Coastal Ocean Pro- 

 gram, and through the National Marine Fisheries Service. These 

 programs are a good start, showing agency recognition of the need 

 for a broad base of support. The extramural programs should be 

 strengthened to lend stability and to develop close intellectual ties, 

 which are essential if the research is to meet agency needs. Further, 

 critical issues such as the transition of the global ocean observing 

 system to an operational phase must be examined in the context of 

 NOAA's overall responsibilities and of research results from the 

 Climate and Global Change Program and the Coastal Ocean Pro- 

 gram. Development and implementation of a global ocean ob- 

 serving system, led by NOAA, would require better partnerships 

 among agencies and between NOAA and academic scientists. 



NOAA and the academic community should together evaluate 

 the effectiveness of NOAA research. This examination should 

 include the existing NOAA/ university joint institutes, environ- 

 mental research laboratories, and extramural research support. 

 Improving the quality of scientific research within NOAA, clari- 

 fying its role vis-a-vis external science and agency missions, and 

 stabilizing support for extramural research over the long term are 

 clearly in the national interest. A panel of outside experts should 

 work with NOAA's administration to review alternative approaches 

 for extramural and intramural support, including the merits of 

 different funding mechanisms (e.g., the NSF peer-review model, 

 the ONR omnibus contract model, and the existing NOAA coop- 

 erative institute model). 



