UOG partners with Mote Marine Laboratory to advance ocean research

The University of Guam recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Florida’s Mote Marine Laboratory to advance ocean research. From left, UOG Marine Laboratory director Dr. Terry Donaldson, Mote president and CEO Dr. Michael Crosby, UOG president Dr. Robert Underwood, and UOG assistant vice president of Graduate Studies, Research, and Sponsored Programs Dr. John Peterson. (Contributed Photo)

A new partnership between the University of Guam Marine Laboratory and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida will benefit scientists, students and faculty while enhancing collaboration in marine research and science education.

Leaders of the two institutions, UOG president Dr. Robert Underwood and Mote president and CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby, celebrated the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at UOG on Aug. 3. The MOU lays the foundation for collaborations in marine research and education serving the common missions and goals of both institutions.

“Partnering with a prominent institution like Mote Marine Laboratory is an amazing opportunity to continue building our research network,” said Dr. Robert Underwood, UOG president.

“Mote is pleased to enter into a partnership with the University of Guam, which will facilitate advancements in marine science and strengthen the capabilities of conducting world-class marine research while enhancing the knowledge and broadening the experiences of the next-generation of scientists for both of our institutions,” Crosby said.

Under this agreement, Mote and UOG will explore exciting opportunities to partner in teaching, introduce more undergraduate students to the cutting-edge coral reef science at Mote’s research facility on Summerland Key and share research and education facilities and infrastructure.

“Coral reefs worldwide are in peril as they face threats such as climate change and ocean acidification,” said Dr. David Vaughan, manager of Mote’s Coral Restoration Program. “With this partnership, Mote and UOG scientists will be able to collaborate, put our heads together, and truly enhance research investigating resilience in coral reef organisms to ocean acidification, coral reef restoration, coral reef ecology and studying other threats faced by corals today.”

The new MOU is a framework that will allow institution leaders, scientists and faculty to develop more specific plans for collaboration, with attention to:

• Collaboration in joint grant proposals and research activities

• Seeking sponsorship from various local, national and international funding sources in seven support of collaborative activities

• Exchange of research faculty, research and students

• Access of faculty and students to share and utilize each parties’ respective research infrastructure based on availability of space and funding

• Participation in research workshops and academic meetings

• Providing strategic review, advice and recommendations for institutional-level science and research initiatives (i.e., National Science Foundations’ Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research; Long-Term Ecological Research; and Science and Technology Centers).

The university had been collaborating with the Mote Marine Laboratory through the UOG Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) project, for which Mote Marine Laboratory President and CEO Dr. Michael Crosby has served as an External Advisory Board member.

“This MOU helps the University and its projects like EPSCoR to continue to leverage our resources and seek funding for future collaborations,” said Dr. Terry Donaldson, UOG Marine Laboratory director and Guam EPSCoR principal investigator. “This means greater opportunities for local researchers, faculty, and students.”

Mote, an independent nonprofit marine science institution established in 1955, has five campuses stretching from its home base in Sarasota, Florida to its research facility on Summerland Key. There, Mote scientists study the grand challenges facing corals reefs—including climate change and ocean acidification—and they have raised and planted thousands of coral fragments onto Florida’s depleted reefs. The Keys facility also serves as a base of operations for hundreds of other researchers from over 60 different institutions around the world and numerous students.

Currently, a new state-of-the-art research facility is being constructed on Mote’s existing property on Summerland Key that will be designed to enhance the organization’s scientific and educational infrastructure, allowing it to expand research programs focused on restoring damaged reefs and on finding new ways to deal with the challenges they are facing today.