Partnership benefits the economy, science, and ocean understanding
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Research, through NOAA Ocean Exploration, has awarded Integrated Systems Solutions, Inc. (ISS) a $3.5 million, five-year contract to establish the National Oceanographic Partnership Program Office to support NOAA and the Navy Office of Naval Research (ONR) in their roles as co-chairs of the NOPP Federal Interagency Working Group.
The role of NOPP, which was established by Congress, is to advance economic development, protect quality of life, strengthen science education and communication, and ensure national security by improving ocean knowledge through collaborations among federal agencies, academia, industry, and nongovernmental organizations.
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National Oceanographic Partnership Program
The National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) fosters collaborations among federal agencies, academia, and industry in order to advance ocean science research and education. Through this collaboration, federal agencies can pool resources to invest in priorities that overlap agency missions or are too large to be supported by a single agency.
Since 1997, NOPP has funded over 200 projects addressing our nation’s economic development, national security, quality of life, and science education. NOPP projects cover a wide range of oceanographic research topics, such as environmental monitoring, ocean exploration, earth system modeling, technology development, and marine resource management.
Alan Leonardi, Ph.D., the ISS designated program manager, oversees the fully staffed virtual office. The NOPP Program Office will also facilitate communication across ocean science sectors; provide administrative support to the NOPP IWG; support the NOPP peer review grant process; facilitate the annual NOPP Excellence in Partnership Award; assist in the preparation of the NOPP annual report to Congress; and coordinate NOPP outreach and education activities, including the NOPP.org website. Read More
Advancing Ocean Science Research
“This new contract award is excellent news for NOPP,” said Jeremy Weirich, director of NOAA Ocean Exploration and co-chair of the NOPP IWG. “The NOPP Program Office will play a critical role in advancing ocean science research and education by assisting federal ocean programs in continuing to leverage resources and invest in priorities that fall between agency missions or are too large for any single agency to support.” NOAA Ocean Exploration, as a federal leader in the ocean community, looks forward to working with ISS, ONR, and all of our NOPP partners to implement the strategic vision for the newly established program office.”
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 authorised the secretary of the Navy and NOAA to establish the National Oceanographic Partnership Program’s partnership program office jointly. The cost of the NOPP Program Office will be shared equally by ONR and NOAA Research under a new interagency agreement.
The award was made as a small business set-aside through NOAA’s Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Program (ProTech) Oceans Domain. For the past 16 years, ISS has provided NOAA with support services.
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Get your ticket for Oi Americas
Join the oceanology community in San Diego from 14–16 February 2023 and discover emerging marine science technology.