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 Ecosystem Research Program?
NOAA's Ecosystem Research Program (ERP) conducts applied research and development to provide scientific information, tools, and forecasts for implementing and evaluating ecosystem management. The ERP's broad-based approach relies on intramural and extramural programs to provide baseline characterizations of ecosystems at multiple scales and focuses on natural and human-related influences on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems. ERP priorities are determined by legislative and executive mandates directing NOAA to manage specific resources and ecosystems, advance regional scientific infrastructure, and support research that will aid the discovery, management and conservation of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources for future generations. In addition, ERP strengthens stewardship of those resources through outreach and education to enhance decision making by coastal communities, stakeholders, and users of ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources.
What is the Mission of the ERP?
The ERP provides an increased understanding of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and the resources to inform decision-makers in the effort to promote responsible and sustainable resource use and to encourage environmental stewardship.
The ERP’s contribution is critical in supporting NOAA’s mission “To understand and predict changes in Earth’s environment and conserve and manage ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources to meet our Nation’s economic, social, and environmental needs.”
ERP Highlights
Researcher's warning helps save lives in Bangladesh
Sea Grant researcher, Hassan Mashriqui may have saved thousands of lives when Cyclone Sidr, a Category 4 storm, roared ashore from the Bay of Bengal near the border of India and Bangladesh...Read more!
New Network Initiated to Improve HAB Monitoring and Event Response on California Coast
California Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) researchers and marine mammal, public health and water quality managers have agreed to work together to initiate the development of a statewide HAB alert system...Read more!
Chemicals in Our Waters are Affecting Humans and Aquatic Life in Unanticipated Ways
American and Canadian scientists are finding out that out of sight, out of mind can no longer be the approach we take to chemicals in our waters. Substances that we use every day are turning up in our lakes, rivers and ocean...Read more!
NOAA-sponsored Mission Will Use AUV Technology to Study Coral Reefs and Associated Ecosystems
Exploring Coral Reef Sustainability with New Technologies is a NOAA-sponsored expedition now underway to investigate shallow and deep corals off Bonaire and their associated ecosystems, using divers...and [Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV)]...Read more!