Utilizing NAIRR Pilot Resources for Building Sustainable Blue Economy
Collaborative Research - NAIRR Pilot Expansion
Project Overview
The Gulf of America faces significant challenges for Blue Economy research, including environmental degradation from pollution and overfishing, as well as the impacts of natural disasters. These issues strain marine ecosystems and coastal communities, creating barriers to sustainability. Similarly, the mid-Atlantic region, such as Maryland, suffers from agriculture, urban runoff, and industrial activities that degrade water quality and significantly impact fish populations and the overall health of the fishery. Hawaii, meanwhile, encounters unique challenges due to its geographic isolation and heavy reliance on ocean resources.
This project aims to address these challenges by establishing coordinated efforts to improve Blue Economy research in these regions, enhancing funding for innovative research, and strengthening partnerships across sectors to build a Blue Economy research network. This project will bring together students, faculty, and researchers from U.S. institutions, along with participants from broad fields, including GIScience, oceanography, computer science, biology, and civil engineering. The goal is to promote AI education and workforce development in Blue Economy research.
Nowadays, AI has transformative potential to enhance blue economy research by providing advanced tools for data analysis, modeling, and decision-making. For instance, AI can analyze data from sensors, satellites, and autonomous underwater vehicles to monitor ocean conditions, predict weather patterns, and assess ecosystem health in real-time. Machine learning algorithms can optimize sustainable fishing practices by analyzing fish stock data, helping to prevent overfishing while supporting local economies.
Workshop & Training Opportunities
The workshop will offer training opportunities to help research communities effectively navigate NAIRR pilot resources, including learning how to access and use these resources for ocean and coastal sustainability analysis. All workshop and training materials will be made publicly available through a project GitHub repository and website, ensuring broad accessibility and ongoing learning opportunities.
Advancing Awareness
This project aims to advance methodologies in Blue Economy research by leveraging NAIRR Pilot resources to enhance AI computational capabilities. By integrating cyberinfrastructure-enabled AI approaches, the project supports the development of innovative AI tools that enable more effective analysis and decision-making across marine and coastal domains. The program will strengthen workforce development by offering targeted lectures, hands-on training sessions, and presentations at four partner institutions: Texas A&M University at College Station, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Morgan State University, and the University of Hawaii. These efforts will prepare the next generation of researchers and practitioners in applying AI to real-world Blue Economy challenges.
Advancing Training
Participants will receive hands-on AI training using NSF-funded NAIRR computing resources, including Jetstream2 at Indiana University and the Accelerating Computing for Emerging Sciences (ACES) system at Texas A&M University. Through guided exercises and real-world use cases, they will develop practical skills in applying AI tools and workflows. Leveraging these advanced computational platforms, participants will enhance their capabilities to innovate research methodologies and establish best practices within the Blue Economy domain.
The team will prepare a digital invitation letter and distribute it to the geoscience, marine, and maritime professional network mailing lists, as well as academic social media channels (e.g., Twitter/X and Facebook). Travel awards will be offered for workshop attendees to apply. In addition, the Hawaii team will leverage connections through the Hawaii Data Science Institute to broaden outreach and participation.
Meet the Team
Project leads, key team members, and collaborators
Zhe Zhang
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor
Department of Geography
Texas A&M University
Director of Cyberinfrastructure and Spatial Decision Intelligence Research Group
Honggao Liu
Co-Principal Investigator
Executive Director
Texas A&M High Performance Research Computing
Zhuping Sheng
Co-Principal Investigator
Professor
Civil Engineering
Morgan State University
Sean B. Cleveland
Co-Principal Investigator
Director of Research Cyberinfrastructure
University of Hawaii System
Chunlei Fan
Co-Principal Investigator
Professor
Biology
Morgan State University
Debbie Thomas
Team Member
Executive Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer (Texas A&M University at Galveston); Dean, College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies (Texas A&M University); Associate Provost (Texas A&M University); Professor
Texas A&M University
Jorge Brenner
Team Member
Executive Director
Gulf of America Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS)
Anthony Filippi
Team Member
Associate Professor; Director of Graduate Programs
Department of Geography
Texas A&M University
More Information
Learn more about how the project can meet your needs by contacting our team directly at zhezhang@tamu.edu.
Funding
This work is supported by funding from the National Science Foundation Grant No. (#2526748, #2526749, #2526750).