Component Programs
- Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
- Great Lakes Enviromental Research Laboratory
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
- National Sea Grant Program
- Ocean and Human Health Initiative
- Ocean Exploration and Research
- Office of Protected Resources
- Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
About ERP
ERP Parent Org's
What is NOAA's Oceans & Human Health Initiative?
NOAA is authorized by The Oceans and Human Health Act (OHHA) of 2004 to establish an Oceans and Human Health Initiative (OHHI) to coordinate and implement research and activities of NOAA related to the role of the oceans, the coasts, and the Great Lakes in human health.” The OHHA establishes programmatic requirements for the OHHI including:
- Centralized program and research coordination
- Advisory Panel
- NOAA National Centers of Excellence
- Extramural Research grants*
- Traineeships-pre- and post-doctoral programs*
- Public Information and Outreach
- Annual Report to Congress
*requires at least 50% of funds appropriated to OHHI to external grants, distinguished scholars, and traineeships.
OHHI contributes to ecosystem approaches to management by:
- Developing health early warning systems to forecast threats and predict long-term risks to human health throughout U.S. coastal and Great Lakes waters;
- Developing operational models to forecast beach closures (or the risk to human health) 24 to 48 hours in advance;
- Identifying key sentinels marine species spanning all U.S. coasts to serve as indicators of human health risks (e.g. avian influenza, domoic acid);
- Delivering prototype applied methods for tracking sources of pathogens in estuarine environments;
- Sering as the primary connection between the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) and the public health community to identify observational requirements and develop prototype public health relevant observation technologies and delivery mechanisms; and,
- Establishing a framework to support the education and training of scientists to work at the interface of oceans and human health.
OHHI Vision & Mission:
Vision: Healthy Oceans for Healthy People.
Mission: Improve understanding and management of the ocean, coasts and Great Lakes to enhance benefits to human health and reduce public health risks.
