The National Sea Grant Law Center's mission is to provide legal information and analysis to the Sea Grant Community, policy-makers, and the public. It focuses on enhancing Sea Grant activities in legal scholarship and outreach related to coastal and ocean law issues. Created to coordinate ocean and coastal law research, offer outreach and advisory services, disseminate information, and promote the development of a Sea Grant legal network, it supports wise stewardship of marine resources.
The National Sea Grant Law Center's Coastal Resilience Program supports rigorous, peer-reviewed research focusing on the effectiveness of coastal adaptation laws and policies. It invites proposals for legal and policy research to examine adaptation and resilience measures post-implementation, addressing the need for retrospective analysis to guide future policy making. Proposals should demonstrate how laws and policies achieve objectives, including diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice goals. The program emphasizes strong engagement and outreach plans to make research usable and accessible to key partners, including direct collaboration with government entities and community involvement. With recommended funding levels at $75,000, the program aims to fund one to two projects that are academically rigorous and societally relevant, without requiring matching funds.