National Science Foundation (NSF) grants will support two new Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites. Scientists will conduct research along the Northeast U.S. continental shelf and in the northern Gulf of Alaska, regions known for productive fisheries and abundant marine resources.  The new LTER sites were each awarded $5.6 million over five years, adding to 25 existing LTER sites in ecosystems including the open ocean, coral reefs, deserts and grasslands. The complex food webs in these regions are affected by human activities, short-term environmental variability and long-term ecosystem changes.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is known for its in-depth work in space exploration and research. But space is not its final frontier. California State University, Northridge marine biology professor Bob Carpenter is among a team of 20 international researchers and engineers who are taking NASA on a voyage to the depths of the ocean as part of a $15 million, three-year project to go where no NASA technology has gone before.