In March 2022, Dr. Rick Spinrad said the “potential for extraordinary impact” at the newly launched Maritime and Defense Technology Hub was “like nothing I have ever seen before.”
The former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator and undersecretary of commerce has returned to “kick the tires again.” He also discussed the future of the region’s blue economy Monday evening at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.
A NOAA study found that Tampa Bay’s marine economy generated an $8.7 billion gross domestic product in 2021. Spinrad, one of the nation’s leading oceanographers and policy experts, believes that is the tip of the iceberg…