Basis for Research Review:
The Oceans and Coastal Resources Act, §161.70, et seq., Florida Statutes, created the Florida Oceans and Coastal Resources Council (FOCRC) and charged it with the creation of a Research Plan, updated annually, that recommends priorities for scientific research projects to the Legislature. The FOCRC was subsequently renamed the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council (FOCC).

To support the Research Plan, the Act tasks FOCC with the creation of a Research Review as described: "Prior to the development of the research plan the council shall review and compile the existing, ongoing, and planned ocean and coastal research and monitoring activities relevant to this state. ... Upon receiving the information required by his subsection, the council shall develop a library to serve as a repository of information for use by those involved in ocean and coastal research. The council shall develop an index of this information to assist researchers in accessing the information."

The Oceans Council believes that a well-designed and implemented Research Review would provide easily accessible information on which policy makers, resource managers, and the public could base decisions. The FOCC has determined that the most efficient way to implement the Research Review is through an internet-based database query and mapping application. Among the benefits of the Research Review are: identification of current researchers as part of the pool of talent available to carry out research funded through the annual Research Plan, identification of data gaps, and avoiding duplication of existing research.

Web site:
This Web site is designed to allow easy access to information concerning identified data sets and research projects in Florida's marine and coastal environment. The "Category" option provides access to data sets and research projects listed by Data set Originator, Title and Organization, the "Query" option initiates a tabular search, and the "Map" option initiates an interactive mapping application to search for data sets and research projects by location. Through these options, you can identify projects of interest and link to detailed metadata reports describing marine and coastal data sets and research projects.

The development of the research review is an ongoing process, and thus, the FWC-FWRI is always trying to identify new or historical research data sets and projects/activities. If you are involved with any Florida marine and coastal research activities, the Florida GAME project provides a mechanism to enter the most basic metadata.