Congratulations to NOAA on 50 Years of science, service, and stewardship! Over the past 50 years NOAA has worked to accomplish this mission through work to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans and coasts; sharing that knowledge and information with others; and conserving and managing coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. CSO is proud to have partnered with NOAA over the course of the past 50 years to advance efforts to promote the effective management, beneficial use, protection, and development of the nation's coastal zone.

Learn more about NOAA's history and 50th Anniversary here. Also check out NOAA's 50th Anniversary flipbook with highlights of the Agency's accomplishments over the past 50 years!

NOAA's Office for Coastal Management has several upcoming trainings! Check out Seven Best Practices for Risk Communication on October 14, 2020, an interactive webinar introducing participants to seven best practices, numerous techniques, and examples for communicating about coastal hazards. Register here. Also check out Tools and Techniques for Facilitating Virtual Meetings on October 21, 2020 to learn how to facilitate virtual meetings more effectively. Register here.

The application period for FEMA’s fiscal year 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants under the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) programs is now open. Eligible applicants must apply for funding through the FEMA Grants Outcomes (GO) system. All applications must be submitted no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on January 29, 2021. For FY20, a total of $660 million in funding is available for FMA and BRIC. Visit the FMA and BRIC web pages to find helpful resources.

FEMA finalized the Ecosystem Service Benefits in Benefit-Cost Analysis policy on September. Ecosystem service benefits are positive effects provided to people by nature, such as aesthetic value, air quality, recreation space, and water filtration. This new policy encourages the use of nature-based solutions in mitigation projects. The policy also removes barriers to allow consideration of ecosystem service benefits for a project, regardless of the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) value. FEMA aligned this policy with other Benefit-Cost Analysis guidance for the Federal government guidance and to reduce the complexity of Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) programs. Learn more about the policy here.

The CERF 2021 Coastal Design Competition is a forward-facing initiative to inspire students and faculty across disciplines to work together in proposing design solutions and innovative strategies to make our coastal environments more resilient in the face of coastal impacts of climate change. The Design Competition is also intended as a complementary way in which CERF can collaborate with local communities to problem solve together around pressing challenges. The 2021 Coastal Design Competition focuses on critical issues of coastal settlement, ecosystem restoration, flood protection and economic development highlighting the capacity of faculty-led, transdisciplinary teams to solve coastal problems and respond to climate change. Submissions are due October 21, 2020. Learn more here.

Are you interested in a scholarship and paid summer internship with NOAA? Consider applying for the Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship or the Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) Undergraduate Scholarship. Applications are open from September 1, 2020, through February 1, 2021. Learn more here.

Coastal GeoTools 2021 is going virtual! Submit an abstract, or two, to share your geospatial application story, tool, or resource. Abstracts are due by Friday, October 9, 2020. Learn more and submit your abstracts here.

The NOAA RESTORE Science Program is making approximately $2.5 million available for this competition to fund approximately 20 planning projects that will run for one year each. This competition will provide natural resource managers, researchers, and other stakeholders with funding to plan a research project that informs a specific management decision impacting natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico. A second competition for funding to execute and apply actionable science will follow this competition. These two competitions will be independent of one another. The deadline for applications is Dec. 15, 2020. See the full announcement here.