ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science has been awarded an $8.5 million NOAA grant to expand its Tampa Bay seafloor mapping program for five more years, according to Prof. Steven Murawski.
“We were able to convince NOAA that we should stay in business,” he said. “In spite of the fact that they knew that facilities were damaged (from a fire). They had enough confidence in us to actually do this.”
Accurate seafloor maps are vital for safe maritime transportation, storm surge forecasting and the region’s ocean economy. Professor Murawski is also director of the Center for Ocean Mapping and Innovative Technologies, or COMIT, and said the new funding comes as the program’s previous money ran out on Wednesday…