Program Documents

2020. 

2017. We are pleased to share a flyer that highlights our impacts and achievements in 2016. Key work included advancements in coastal hazard resilience, education initiatives, and research applied to solve some of our most pressing urban ocean issues. 

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2017. We are pleased to share highlights from our research projects! This PDF details key outcomes and results from 11 projects funded by USC Sea Grant. Results from these projects are immediately applicable to key management and policy discussions on water quality, wetland restoration, sand berm design, beach nourishment, sustainable aquaculture, and more. Read more...

2017. The USC Sea Grant Strategic Plan for 2018-2021 is broad in scope and vision, but with recognition of the constraints imposed by the modest character of our resources. We thus continue to prioritize the elements of our research, extension and education portfolio in order to focus on the most pressing concerns of the greater urban Southern California region.

Download PDF of USC Sea Grant's 2018-2021 Strategic Plan

2017. We are pleased to share a flyer that highlights our impacts and achievements in 2014-2015. Our workshops, trainings, and education programs reached more than 59,000 urban residents! Key work included advancements in coastal hazard resilience, ports and maritime transportation, education initiatives, and research applied to solve some of our most pressing urban ocean issues. 

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2016. How does USC Sea Grant contribute to solving the problems of our urban ocean ?


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2015. Tracking USC Sea Grant’s work through the decades, you realize how closely our program’s research, outreach and education are tied to the needs of this urban ocean environment and its residents. We are dedicated to our role as a neutral broker of science that serves the people, ecosystems and wildlife of such a diverse region; and to our role building capacity and connections across people, resources and knowledge to solve our most pressing problems. 

In this 40th+ anniversary retrospective, we tell a few stories to show how USC Sea Grant’s long-term work supports achievements in several key areas of importance to Southern California. It is extremely rewarding to be able to say that some things are better than they were 20 or 40 years ago. It is not possible to say that about everything, but we can see improvements here along our coastline, and we are proud to have been part of the collaborations of research scientists, educators, government leaders and community stakeholders that worked on these issues. View Retrospective

USC Sea Grant developed this Strategic Plan in 2012, relying on input from the range of interests and stakeholders at the national, regional, state and local levels. The USC Sea Grant Strategic Plan for 2014-2017 is broad in scope and vision, but with a recognition of the boundaries attendant upon limited resources. We continue to prioritize the elements of our research, extension and education portfolio in order to focus on the most pressing concerns of the greater urban Southern California region. We have aligned USC Sea Grant's major focus areas with the National Plan focus areas, including: Healthy Coastal Ecosystems; Sustainable Fisheries and Aquacultures; Resilient Communities and Economies; and Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development. Our plan was developed based on input from the diverse constituencies with whom we work, along with formal input from our Advisory Council, Academic Coordinators, and the California Resources Agency Sea Grant Advisory Panel (RASGAP). PDF

In 2012, we updated USC Sea Grant's strategic direction, keeping it aligned with the Sea Grant National Strategic Plan 2014-2017. The National Plan was developed with input from the state Sea Grant programs, national stakeholder groups, and representatives from NOAA programs, other federal agencies, and nonprofit environmental organizations. The National Plan thus provides the primary context for USC Sea Grant’s plan. For the suite of challenges presented in the Southern California coastal region, the USC Sea Grant plan refocuses those priorities, continuing our major emphasis on water quality, coastal ecosystem health, coastal community resilience, and a robust education effort. As part of our resilient communities and economies emphasis, we continue work on land use planning and marine transportation and ports, both of which are particularly important as economic drivers in the Southern California metropolitan region.

With increasing demand for natural resources, continuing population growth, and budgetary declines, West Coast communities face numerous challenges to the health and sustainability of their coastal and ocean resources and habitats, including polluted coastal waters, habitat loss, nonnative species
invasions, eroding coastlines, and marine wildlife declines.

West Coast Sea Grant Regional Research Report (PDF)