Partnerships

Research Partnerships

We leverage formal partnerships with universities and other organizations outside of NOAA to broaden our research capabilities and quickly adapt to the challenges of research. By working with our partners, we gain access to state-of-the-art facilities and a wealth of talented researchers with specialized skill sets to help us support the NOAA mission.

We are Strong because of our Community

Cooperative Institutes

Cooperative Institutes are NOAA-supported partnerships between NOAA and a non-Federal organization that has established an outstanding research program in one or more areas that are relevant to the NOAA mission “to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources”. Cooperative Institutes are established at research institutions with outstanding graduate degree programs in NOAA-related sciences.  Cooperative Institutes provide significant coordination of resources among all non-government partners and promote the involvement of students and post-doctoral scientists in NOAA-funded research.

The Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), based at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School, unites the research resources of 10 academic partner universities to increase scientific understanding of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere within the context of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) mission.

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The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) is a partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), NOAA, and NASA. CIMSS scientists conduct research using remote sensing systems for meteorological and surface-based applications to improve forecasts and advance our understanding of atmospheric and earth system science.

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The Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), is a partnership of six complementary academic institutions and NOAA addressing important national strategic research and education goals. Mississippi State University leads this collaboration, partnering with the University of Southern Mississippi, Louisiana State University, Florida State University, Alabama’s Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and NOAA scientists at various laboratories and operational centers in the Gulf of Mexico region.

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The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) serves as a nexus for multi-disciplinary cooperation between NOAA research scientists and Colorado State University research staff, faculty, and students, aligning NOAA-identified research theme areas with long-standing academic strengths of the University.

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NOAA-funded Partners

NOAA’s Environmental Cooperative Science Center (ECSC) has served NOAA and the nation for fifteen years, stemming from a series of competitively awarded cooperative agreements in 2001, 2006 and 2011. In the latest FY2016 award a new Cooperative Science Center has been established under the leadership of Florida A&M University.

The NOAA Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems (CCME) was established in 2016 as one of the NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority-Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) Cooperative Science Centers. The Center was formed to address issues confronting marine and coastal communities.

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NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST), a Cooperative Science Center (CSC), was established in 2016 through a national competition and is funded by NOAA. The participating institutions are geographically distributed across the nation and enjoy a high enrollment of under-represented minority students. It is a consortium of six institutions, led by The City College of The City University of New York  in partnership with seven other universities.

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The National Research Council (NRC) is the working arm of the United States National Academies, which produces reports that shape policies, inform public opinion, and advance the pursuit of science, engineering, and medicine.

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News from Our Cooperative Institutes

Top News

Sailing into science: Collaborative cruise exposes students to oceangoing research

November 4, 2024

Over the past few months, the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science has conducted three FLOTSUM, i.e., Florida Ocean Time Series by Undergrads at UM, cruises aboard its research vessel the F.G. Walton Smith. FLOTSUM day cruises are conducted five times per year in the Florida Straits for training purposes […]

Continued...
Panoramic image shows the Rosenstiel school, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory which is bisected by the Rickenbacker Causeway. The ocean and Miami skyline is in the background.
Panoramic image shows the Rosenstiel school, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory which is bisected by the Rickenbacker Causeway. The ocean and Miami skyline is in the background.

Sailing into science: Collaborative cruise exposes students to oceangoing research

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West-east near-surface current trend between 1993-2022. The blue colors show increased westward currents; red colors show increased eastward currents. The largest trends are observed in the central tropical Pacific Ocean (black box). Current velocity data from three equatorial moored buoys (yellow diamonds) provide a subsurface view on long-term upper-ocean current velocity trends.
West-east near-surface current trend between 1993-2022. The blue colors show increased westward currents; red colors show increased eastward currents. The largest trends are observed in the central tropical Pacific Ocean (black box). Current velocity data from three equatorial moored buoys (yellow diamonds) provide a subsurface view on long-term upper-ocean current velocity trends.

Study reveals acceleration in Pacific upper-ocean circulation over past 30 years, impacting global weather patterns

NOAA research cruise supports key tropical Atlantic observing system
NOAA research cruise supports key tropical Atlantic observing system

NOAA research cruise supports key tropical Atlantic observing system

ocean surface with waves and blue sky
ocean surface with waves and blue sky

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is weakening in the deep sea of the North Atlantic Ocean, study finds