The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 629,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington state to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. National Marine Sanctuaries directly support coastal communities, many of which are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather, disruptions to coastal infrastructure and maritime transport, and changing ocean conditions. As average temperatures rise globally, national marine sanctuaries and the communities they serve are facing unprecedented hazards including changing weather patterns and worsening storm events, warming waters, declining ocean oxygen levels, ocean acidification, and sea level rise. The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is committed to bolstering the resilience of coastal and Great Lakes communities and economies to the challenges of a changing ocean by safeguarding essential ecosystems that sustain maritime industry, livelihoods, coastal security, fisheries and wildlife, cultural heritage, and more.
Through this internship an interested student will support sanctuaries’ mission by using existing data sources to develop a system-wide map of the financial, physical, and cultural risk changing ocean conditions poses to coastal communities in countries adjacent to sanctuaries, as well as any economic opportunity that responses to this risk might provide. This project will result in maps, graphics, and communications products.