NOAA increases FAMU grant to $30 million over five years

Willis Lyons, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of the Environment, is one of several FAMU students supported by the NOAA grant. 

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will increase FAMU's five-year federal grant from to support the Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems (CCME) from $15 million to $30 million.  The purpose of the grant is to help recruit and train the next generation of scientists from under-represented groups.

This new funding agreement extends and modifies the goals and objectives of the initial five-year award that started in 2016.This is FAMU’s largest grant. The Center is a consortium of Minority Serving Institutions and was formed to address issues confronting marine and coastal communities and to help supply a modern talented workforce in relevant NOAA areas of interest,” said FAMU Research VP Charles Weatherford. “This NOAA grant is representative of the research that is carried out at FAMU and is a showcase for partnerships that address today’s nationally and internationally relevant issues.”

FAMU President Larry Robinson, a former assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under President  Barrack Obama, will serve as the principal investigator on the grant.