- Success Stories
- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Contributing to Wind Energy Area Designations
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) recently announced two Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the Gulf of Mexico. The WEAs are located off the coasts of Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana and have the potential to power nearly three million homes.
BOEM collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to identify the most appropriate location for the designation. Our staff supporting NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science worked with the team to build an ocean model that analyzed the entire Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Through this analysis, BOEM was able to locate areas that have the least conflict with other uses and the lowest environmental impact.
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Happy World Ocean Day
The ocean covers about 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, and life on this planet depends heavily on the ocean. We celebrate its vast being and presence each year on June 8. With CSS so heavily dedicated to Earth and environmental science, it makes sense that many CSS employee owners are deeply embedded in ocean…
Developing a Database for Ecosystem Service Models
CSS scientists have been major developers and contributors to the online U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s EcoService Models Library (ESML) database since its inception in 2012. The ESML database contains detailed but concise descriptions of ecosystem service models to facilitate the selection of models by ecosystem scientists for a variety of management and research applications. The…
Assisting with a Risk and Vulnerability Assessment
Los Angeles County in California is a densely populated area vulnerable to natural hazards such as flooding and wildfires. Our staff modified and applied the Integrated Vulnerability Assessment Framework developed by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to assess the county’s climate vulnerability. Through partner and stakeholder engagement, the team used a series of…