USCRP Organizational Structure

The USCRP Community

The USCRP is the first organization of its kind.  The program is not mandated by Congress, but rather, is a grassroots effort created and led by the federal agencies, academic researchers, and stakeholders that it serves. The program exists thanks to strong support from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, and university partners.  Over 450 members of the coastal community have joined as USCRP members. USCRP has funded 51 academic studies across the United States totaling $11.1 million in funding.  The program’s reach is truly national.  Universities across the US have been funded to  tackle research questions in a variety of environments along all of the nation’s coastlines. 

USCRP Leadership

The USCRP leadership structure spans key federal leadership to community outreach practitioners.  The program is led by Executive Directors who guide the vision and provide strategic oversight. The Executive Directors, representing the three lead organizations (USACE Engineering Research and Development Center, USGS Coastal Marine Hazards and Resources Program, and the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association) work three advisory teams on the implementation and execution of the community-developed national plan.

• A Federal Team* guides USCRP on ongoing research activities, future directions, and funding opportunities within each agency represented. 
• A Stakeholder Team helps to identify user needs based on input from across the coastal sector, such as local government officials, emergency managers, industry (e.g., coastal consultants) and NGOs, and provides guidance on communicating research effectively. 
• An Academic Team, composed of researchers from universities with nationally recognized coastal science or engineering program, provides direction on academic funding, existing programs, and graduate education. 

Success of the USCRP in identifying priorities, aligning research with societal needs, and providing useful tools depends on two-way communication between the Program and those sectors the Teams represent. The USCRP Program Office facilitates the exchange of information by coordinating science planning, organizing meetings, developing workshops, and promoting funding opportunities. These groups work together to advance the research and science application topics related to long-term morphological evolutions, extreme events, and human and ecosystem health. 

Federal Leadership Meeting

To facilitate interagency coordination and collaboration on federal coastal research, the USCRP hosts an annual Federal Agency Leadership meeting in which top leadership from each agency are invited to provide organization-specific guidance, oversight, and input. These federal leaders represent their organization’s coastal mission, priorities, and resource and help define the priorities and steer upcoming activities. They provide the high-level commitments from their agency that are required to sustain the momentum of the USCRP as a respected, multi-agency group. These leaders seek to dovetail their agency’s highest federal priority coastal needs with the broader USCRP federal, academic, and stakeholder teams.

*Agencies currently represented on or engaged with the Federal Team include: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Federal Emergency Management Agency, NASA, NOAA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, National Park Service, Department of Energy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Office of Naval Research.