FY 2006 - Research Focus Areas

If you plan to submit a preliminary proposal to CICEET’s FY 2006 ETD RFP, you must clearly address at least one of the specific priorities identified in the four research focus areas listed below. Proposals that fail to directly address one of the priority research areas will be deemed noncompliant and eliminated from the competition.

Please note: each year CICEET adapts its research focus areas to reflect the changing needs of coastal management. Review the following sections carefully, even if you have submitted a proposal to CICEET’s ETD Program in the past.

Research Focus Area 1: Land Use / Habitat Change
Research Focus Area 2: Nutrient Enrichment & Eutrophication
Research Focus Area 3: Microbial Contaminants
Research Focus Area 4: Toxic Contaminants

Research Focus Area 1: Land Use / Habitat Change

1. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to restore coastal and estuarine habitat.
2. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to visualize and predict the outcome of restoration activities.
3. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to enhance data acquisition and processing technology to detect habitat change and/or connect it to land use practices. Such technology includes satellite and airborne imaging, in situ sensing, acoustic techniques, GIS, and the development of automated or semi-automated algorithms for detecting habitat change from high-resolution remote sensing imagery; it does not include tools to detect the impacts of habitat change on organisms. Please contact us if you have questions regarding this distinction.
4. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to detect, predict, or manage the effects of land use practices on the input of contaminants into estuarine and coastal ecosystems, using—for example—satellite and airborne imagery, in situ sensors, GIS, or predictive spatial modeling.

Please note: If your proposal involves new sensors and/or data-processing technologies, it should demonstrate the ability to access and transport data in compliance with the accepted specifications, protocols, and standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the Integrated and sustained Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Data Management and Communication (DMAC) Plan.

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Research Focus Area 2: Nutrient Enrichment and Eutrophication

1. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to reduce or eliminate nutrient inputs to watersheds from wastewater, stormwater, and air. *
2. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to create more effective waste management technologies and strategies to reduce the nutrient impact of agriculture on coastal and estuarine ecosystems.
3. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to mitigate the impact of nutrient enrichment on estuarine and coastal habitat.
4. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies (sensors) or methods to detect and quantify nutrients in coastal environments, including those from atmospheric deposition. This priority does not include technology to detect or quantify the impacts of eutrophication.
5. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to identify sources of nutrients.

   * The CICEET-funded University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center is available for collaborative research projects involving stormwater control systems. Contact CICEET for more information.

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Research Focus Area 3: Microbial Contaminants

1. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to eliminate or reduce microbial contaminants from point and nonpoint sources, such as wastewater treatment facilities, urban stormwater, agricultural runoff, and boats.*
2. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to identify human and non-human sources of microbial contaminants.
3. Develop or enhance novel and cost-effective technologies (sensors) to detect and quantify microbial contaminants in coastal and estuarine waters.

* The CICEET-funded University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center is available for collaborative research projects involving stormwater control systems. Contact CICEET for more information.

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Research Focus Area 4: Toxic Contaminants

1. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to reduce or eliminate toxic contaminant input to coastal watersheds, from wastewater, stormwater, and airborne contaminants.*
2. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to remediate contaminated sediments and water.
3. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies (sensors) or methods to detect and quantify toxic contaminants in the environment. This does not include technologies to detect and/or quantify the effects or impacts of toxic contamination.
4. Develop novel and cost-effective technologies or methods to identify sources of toxic contaminants.

* The CICEET-funded University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center is available for collaborative research projects involving stormwater control systems. Contact CICEET for more information.

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