UC Santa Barbara is at the center of myriad projects and conversations about the composition, health and future of the world’s oceans. A new effort led by UCSB marine ecologist Bob Miller focuses on California. With a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Miller and his colleagues are bringing together key members of the scientific community researching coastal Southern California as they study the region’s dynamic marine ecosystems.

Nearly $500,000 from NSF’s new Coastlines and People program will go toward creating a research collaboration network (RCN) aimed at using new technology to inform coastal science and management in the Golden State. Scientists from UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UCLA, Cal State Monterey Bay, Stanford, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, and NOAA will organize the network under Miller’s leadership.

The project is intended to leverage the wealth of ocean research in Southern California—especially the number of long-running marine field sites—and create a coordinated plan to study, monitor and predict how coastal ecosystems will adapt to changing environmental conditions. Bringing scientists and various stakeholders together will help identify large gaps that still exist in our understanding of these systems, foster collaborations, and lead to new technologies and methodologies.