Virginia Sea Grant works to enhance the sustainability and viability of coastal communities through economic and social science research as well as extension activities. The coastal community development program within VIMS Marine Advisory services department conducts economic analyses and supports coastal industries such as marinas, boating, seafood, and tourism.
Extension projects include:
These videos show our friends at the Tidewater Oyster Gardeners Association (TOGA) assembling containers typically used in oyster gardening. Virginia Sea Grant is a proud partner with VIMS and TOGA. Together we train residents of coastal Virginia in the benefits, practice, and science of oyster gardening.
A new partnership between Virginia Sea Grant and the College of William and Mary is exploring whether a community-supported fishery is a feasible means to help reverse this trend by promoting greater consumption of locally harvested fish and shellfish.
Peter Kube is Quantitative Geneticist at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Hobart, Australia. Kube’s research in selective breeding of salmon, abalone, and Pacific oysters has lead to important tools for industry, including a way to calculate a breeding value for desired trait combinations. Kube is partnering with VIMS ABC researchers Anu Frank-Lawale and [...]
A century from now, 18-30% of Virginia Beach’s current land area could be underwater, according to a number of studies of projected sea level rise. On a shorter timescale, many residents are already seeing increased flooding, erosion, and storm damage. These impending changes led to a partnership between a team of students and faculty from the University of Virginia and the City of Virginia Beach, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, and the nonprofit, Wetlands Watch, for a series of projects aimed at helping the city respond and adapt to sea level rise.
Proposed policy responses to help communities adapt to sea level rise are often complex and difficult for the public to understand, which creates a serious barrier to informed decision making. An interdisciplinary team led by researchers at George Mason University will create a web-based tool that allows citizens to view the projected impacts of sea [...]
A research team led by the University of Virginia’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation will conduct a series of focus groups on adaptation to sea level rise in Virginia Beach, the Middle Peninsula, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The focus groups will bring together shoreline property owners with local planners and decision makers to engage [...]
In December, Virginia Sea Grant invited two scholars to participate in the fall 2011 Visiting Scholar Seminar Series to discuss consumer behavior and community supported fisheries. These talks precede Virginia Sea Grant’s spring research project, which will investigate whether Virginian’s would participate in community supported fishery.
Law intern Mary-Carson Saunders asks “Why should local governments participate in this regulation if they are not required to do so?”
Virginia Institute of Marine Science Marine Extension Program will host two workshops to help watermen and aquaculturists put together applications for 2012 Fisheries Resource Grant funding.
Alex Horning compiled case studies on the approaches communities in both states are taking to climate change adaptation.
The UVA Bay Game is a large-scale simulation that allows players to take the perspectives of watermen, farmers, ranchers, citizens, local governments, and other stakeholders and watch as their decisions affect water quality in a virtual Chesapeake Bay. During 2011’s Earth Day, David Smith (UVA), with financial support from Virginia Sea Grant, coordinated seven universities [...]
When you think of eating local, what foods fill your imaginary plate? Maybe you think of vegetables and eggs, but what about fish? Would you even know where to find locally caught or farmed seafood if you wanted it? This spring Virginia Sea Grant will lead a team to determine whether it would make sense for local seafood producers could bring their catch to a community supported fishery.
Tidewater Oyster Growers Association (TOGA) announced the establishment of a graduate student fellowship endowment at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) on Tuesday. The TOGA Fellowship Endowment is inspired by and in honor of VIMS extension agent Mike Oesterling and TOGA founder and former President Jackie Partin.
Flooding along Virginia’s coasts is just a fact of life, especially during hurricanes and Nor’easters. To monitor to flooding conditions, emergency managers along coastal Virginia have been turning to TideWatch, a water level monitoring system produced by Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) researchers. Recently, the VIMS researchers behind TideWatch released and, with the help of Virginia Sea Grant, trained emergency managers in a new experimental flood-forecasting system.
Colonial Beach Yacht Center (Colonial Beach, VA) and Chesapeake Boat Basin (Kilmarnock, VA) received Clean Marina designations this month. Virginia Institute of Marina Science and Virginia Sea Grant are proud partners of the Virginia Clean Marina Program, which recognizes marinas that voluntarily take measures to prevent or reduce pollution at their facility. There are currently 69 Clean Marinas in Virginia. Here’s more about the two newest additions to the Virginia Clean Marina family:
On Tuesday, May 17, faculty and students from the University of Virginia will brief the Virginia Beach City Council about sea level rise. This presentation will be streamed live online. The briefing is the culmination of a VASG-funded Coastal Community Adaptation project. Researchers from UVA’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation led a series of listening sessions [...]
Tom Murray, Virginia Sea Grant Marine Extension Program Leader and Associated Director of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Department of Advisory Services, was recognized for his work with Virginia’s coastal communities. He received VIMS 2010 Outstanding Employee in Advisory Services award. Murray, an economist by training, has been instrumental in connecting VIMS to [...]
Consider submitting an abstract to the CERF 2011 conference session SCI-080, Science Serving Coastal Communities: Research translated to management actions. Coastal communities look for science to help answer pressing environmental and socioeconomic questions. Yet, there are many challenges to providing decision-makers with research results that are timely and at relevant scales. Virginia Sea Grant Assistant [...]
What should farmers be doing to improve the health of Chesapeake Bay? How about watermen? And regulators?
The UVA Bay Game is a large-scale simulation that allows players to take the perspectives of these and other stakeholders in the Bay region. In honor of Earth Day 2011, on April 22, students at seven universities in the region gathered on their home campuses and communicated with each other through internet videoconferencing for a little bit of friendly competition and a lot of learning.
Coastal populations are booming, making access to the water a national problem. Virginia Sea Grant is collaborating with several other programs to bring together stakeholders from communities around the country to share local solutions to preserving public access and working waterfronts.
