In collaboration with Coastal Quest, OPC is pleased to announce funding awards to 10 organizations throughout the state of California for the MPA Outreach and Education Small Grants Program, totaling $745,135. This funding supports outreach and education projects to help increase compliance with MPA regulations throughout the state and below Big Sur. The MPA Outreach and Education Small Grants Program is funded by OPC’s once-through cooling (OTC) mitigation fund and designed to ultimately increase marine life associated with MPAs within the geographic region of the OTC facilities.
Additionally, three organizations have received funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Marisla Foundation for outreach and education projects aimed at increasing compliance with MPA regulations in areas outside of the geographic region of OTC facilities and with a focus on serving disadvantaged communities. These project awards total $144,000.
A full list of the organizations that received awards can be found on the Coastal Quest website.
The Ocean Protection Council and the NOAA Marine Debris Program co-hosted a two-day webinar for the California Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy (Strategy) implementation process on June 24-25, 2020. We are pleased to announce that webinar recordings of the two plenary sessions are now available on the Ocean Litter Strategy project resources page. Topics covered during the two plenary sessions can be found on the webinar agenda. Day 1 of the webinar featured opening remarks from Secretary Jared Blumenfeld, NOAA Marine Debris Program Director Nancy Wallace, and OPC Executive Director Mark Gold.
Day 1 of the webinar also featured keynote presentations from:
- Dr. Mark Starr on Plastic Pollution and COVID-19, a Public Health Perspective
- Baani Behniwal on A California Perspective on Plastic Pollution and Waste Management
- Asma Mahdi on Equity and Zero Waste.
Day 2 of the webinar featured agency updates from OPC, the State Water Resources Control Board, CalRecycle, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Day 2 also featured report outs from the day 1 breakout sessions, which were not recorded. Please see the webinar recordings and agenda for more information.
The Ocean Protection Council hosted a virtual public meeting from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Friday, June 19, 2020. The agenda and instructions on how to participate remotely and provide written or oral public comment can viewed here. Meeting materials will be posted on OPC’s website on June 9, 2020.
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The California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) is hiring two Environmental Scientists to help advance priorities in the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan to Protect California’s Coast and Ocean. One position will help lead efforts related to coastal wetlands, watersheds, coastal and marine water quality, and equity; information on this position and how to apply can be found here. The other position will support California’s MPA management efforts related to outreach and education, research and monitoring, compliance and enforcement, and policy and permitting; information on this position and how to apply can be found here.
California Sea Grant is now soliciting applications for one-year research projects by early-career faculty. Proposals, up to $60,000, will support the research of a new faculty member employed at a California-based university to address topics aligned with California Sea Grant’s strategic plan and state priorities.
In order to help align faculty research proposals with state needs, this solicitation includes information from the Resources Agency Sea Grant Advisory Panel (RASGAP) identifying state research priorities within the context of Ocean Protection Council’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan to Protect California’s Coast and Ocean. Input from RASGAP helps advance science that supports coastal and ocean management and policy decisions in California.
This year, additional emphasis will be on proposals that respond and target objectives specific to California Sea Grant’s Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies and Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture focus areas. Please read the full Request for Proposals for details and application instructions.
Deadlines:
Letters of Intent: May 18, 2020 – 5 PM PT
Full Proposals: June 15, 2020 – 5 PM PT
On February 26, the Ocean Protection Council approved its Strategic Plan to Protect California’s Coast and Ocean for 2020-2025. The plan establishes an ambitious collective vision for protecting the intrinsic, cultural, ecological and economic benefits provided by California’s coast and ocean and identifies objectives, targets and actions in four key areas: climate, equity, biodiversity and the blue economy. Actions address issues ranging from sea-level rise and ocean acidification to universal coastal access, offshore wind energy, aquaculture, whale entanglement, plastic pollution, wetlands, beaches and fisheries.
The Ocean Protection Council is seeking bids for contract to develop a communication strategy for the 2022 decadal review of California’s Marine Protected Area network. This communications strategy will be used over the next two years leading up to the management review in December 2022 and through early 2023 to communicate the results of the review, along with the recommendations and next steps for ongoing adaptive management of California’s Marine Protected Areas. This strategy will help establish a communications protocol and framework by which information regarding subsequent decadal reviews will be shared with decision makers, stakeholders and the public. The Contractor will be required to work in close collaboration with OPC, DFW and FGC staff in the development and deployment of this communication strategy through the duration of the contract.
For more information follow this link: https://caleprocure.ca.gov/event/0540/0000015525
The California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) is hiring a Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist) to lead its Marine Protected Area (MPA) Program. OPC is a Cabinet-level state policy body that works to ensure healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems by advancing innovative, science-based policy and management, making strategic investments, and catalyzing action through partnerships and collaboration.
The Senior Environmental Scientist will serve as the team lead for OPC’s MPA program and will be responsible for: coordinating the efforts of OPC’s MPA program manager and Sea Grant Fellow; leading implementation of the state’s MPA Management Program in collaboration with OPC’s other MPA program staff and external partners, which includes investments and actions related to outreach and education, research and monitoring, compliance and enforcement, and policy and permitting; grant and contract management including developing work scopes, tracking deliverables, processing invoices, and grantee coordination; and additional organizational support and capacity, as needed.
Applicants should have a minimum of four years of relevant post-graduate work experience, a strong scientific background, working knowledge of coastal and ocean issues and stakeholders in California, experience working on projects and/or research related to MPAs in California or elsewhere, and excellent written and verbal communication skills. Completion of the Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist) State Civil Service Examination is required and exam scores must rank in the top three tiers within the applicant pool to be further considered in the application process; information on the examination can be found here. The ability to work in a fast-paced environment and prioritize tasks is a must. A PhD, ecological modeling experience, and two years of field work are preferred but not required. The position is located in Sacramento, California.
This job announcement is a repost of the position that was released in November 2019. If you applied at that time and are still interested in the position, please resubmit your application materials through the link below.
The application deadline is January 29, 2020. For more details and to apply, please visit: https://jobs.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPosting.aspx?JobControlId=187238
The Ocean Protection Council is pleased to announce a funding opportunity for projects focused on outreach and education to improve compliance with marine protected area (MPA) regulations in California:
2020 Marine Protected Area Outreach and Education Small Grants Program
The MPA Outreach and Education Small Grants Program, funded by the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) through the Once-Through Cooling (OTC) Interim Mitigation Program and administered by Coastal Quest, is a competitive grant program providing support for projects focused on outreach and education to improve compliance with MPA regulations statewide. Applicants may submit proposals for $25,000 – $100,000. A minimum total of $750,000 will be distributed under the MPA Outreach and Education Small Grants Program’s request for proposals (RFP).
Please see the full RFP for additional details
