oceans and health: a prescription for the future
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Oceans and Health: A Prescription for the Future. Paul Sandifer Chief Scientist, NOAA’s Oceans and Human Health Initiative. Primary Drivers for Establishment of a National OHH Initiative. National Academy Reports: - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Oceans and Health: A Prescription for the Future
Paul Sandifer
Chief Scientist, NOAA’s Oceans and Human Health Initiative
Primary Drivers for Establishment of a National OHH Initiative
• National Academy Reports:– From Monsoons to Microbes: Understanding the Role of
the Oceans in Human Health– Under the Weather: Climate, Ecology and Infectious
Disease– Marine Biotechnology– Grand Environmental Challenges
• U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy
• Program Implementation by NSF & NIEHS• Congressional Appropriations• NOAA Strategic Plan• Oceans and Human Health Act of 2004
An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century
Human Threats to Ocean Health
• Ballast water,
invasive species
• Overfishing, ecosystem collapse
• NPS pollution, stormwater runoff • Coastal development, wetland loss
more impervious surfaces
Impacts of Coastal Development on Ocean and Human Health
bacterial/viral contamination of seafood & beaches
decreased biodiversity and natural habitat
increased flooding
Ocean Threats to Human Health
Role of OHHI within NOAA
Historical Focus of
NOAA
Focus of OHH Initiative
NOAA OHHI Scientific Goals
• Support an ecosystems approach to understanding causal relationships among humans, ocean processes, marine ecosystem health, and human health outcomes;
• Predict ocean-related impacts on human health and identify emerging marine-related human health threats;
• Promote the ecologically sound discovery of marine organisms and bioactive agents for human health benefit; and
• Provide useful information for public health and natural resource decision makers
NOAA Centers of Excellencein Oceans & Human Health
• Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) – predicting the formation of toxic algal blooms, beach
closings, and water quality• Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML)
– quality and safety of coastal waters and seafood and development of tools to characterize chemical and microbial threats to marine ecosystems and humans.
• Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC)– infectious diseases, toxins, and chemicals that directly
impact human health, and the use of marine organisms as sentinel species.
OHHI Competitive External Grants
• FY04: 104 proposals received, 17 grants awarded ($6.8 million)
• FY05: proposals under review (~$7 million, including continuing projects): ~ 150 proposals received
Speakers
• Dr. Dan Baden, Director, Center for Marine Science, University of NC at Wilmington
• Ms. Sarah Chasis, Director of Water and Coastal Programs, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Dr. Lora Fleming, Professor, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami
• Dr. Don Perkins, Director, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
• Ms. Kathleen Frith, Director,Communications and Outreach, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School