Over the last three months MARCO has continued to add new and exciting content to its website. The updated “Ocean Planning” dropdown menu now contains a page dedicated to Work Groups and Collaborative Efforts, which links to individual work groups and highlights the efforts on marine debris, ocean acidification, ocean mapping data and more. The Marine Debris Work Group recently released the Marine Debris Work Plan, which can be found here and on its web page.   As one of MARCO’s shared regional priorities, an updated Renewable Energy page has been added to the MARCO website. As offshore wind development ramps up, states are tasked with considering how this exciting new industry will affect the busy and life-filled waters of the Mid-Atlantic. From the Renewable Energy web page, follow the link to the new Offshore Wind Story Map on the MARCO Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal to see how it informs offshore wind development in the Mid-Atlantic Region.   Keep an eye on the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Forum page for information coming soon on the 2nd annual Ocean Forum to be held in New York City on May 19, 2020. Stay up-to-date on the website and projects from MARCO by checking out the Website Updates section of MARCO News next...

A pair of new maps on the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal provide a glimpse at which coastal counties’ economies are most closely linked with the ocean. Both maps are digitized, interactive versions of maps that first appeared in MARCO’s 2018 report “Climate Change Vulnerabilities in the Coastal Mid-Atlantic Region.”  Go to the maps here.   The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal team have partnered to create three new maps showing proposed anchorage grounds in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay areas and a Port Access Route Study (PARS) area extending offshore from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Ocean City, Maryland. All three maps can be found by clicking on the “USCG Proposed Areas and Studies” dropdown within the Portal’s Maritime theme, or go to the maps...

As the most densely populated state in the nation with significant commercial and industrial areas, New Jersey represents a major load electrical center. However, the state is lacking an onshore wind resource capable of supporting the robust wind turbine generation necessary to address greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. As a result, interest in utilizing the offshore environment for clean energy development has been high in the state since the early 2000’s.

New York’s GIS Team has developed new (Department of State) Risk Areas for the Lake Ontario coast, data layer available for viewing on the Gateway; Delaware Wetlands Conference; Maryland Passive Acoustic Monitoring study

Since 2014, Kim (Hernandez) Grubert worked in Maryland’s Chesapeake and Coastal Service advancing, among other things, the state and Mid-Atlantic’s ocean coordination and management efforts. 

Nicole has played a supporting role for the MARCO management board since 2015, when she started at Delaware Coastal Programs.