Hello, Ecologgers! As some of you may have heard, the Governor of South Carolina cut all state funding for the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium this week. For those of you unfamiliar with Sea Grant programs, they provide grants for scientific research and sustainable coastal development, and they work closely with local stakeholders with the goal of "helping citizens utilize scientific information to support a vibrant economy while ensuring ecological sustainability”.
Cutting the program entirely will result in a 0.002% reduction of state government spending, but could result in millions of dollars of Federal research grants no longer reaching scientists in the state. I've written a blog post summarizing the issue, including a list of some of SC Sea Grant's amazing accomplishments in recent years. The post can be found here: http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=13471 The SC legislature is meeting next week to consider overriding the budget cut. Phone calls from the scientific community in support of the Sea Grant Consortium would go a long way towards helping to restore funding. Thank you for your help. I'm happy to answer any questions. Sincerely, -- *David Shiffman* *Ph.D. Student, Research Assistant,* Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy <http://www.cesp.miami.edu/> R.J. Dunlap Marine Conservation Program <http://rjd.miami.edu/> [image: RJD] *e: *[email protected] | *p: *412.915.2309 *a: *4600 Rickenbacker Cswy, Miami, Florida, 33149 *t: *@WhySharksMatter <http://twitter.com/#!/WhySharksMatter> | *b: *Southern Fried Science Blog <http://www.southernfriedscience.com/>
