Autonomous reef monitoring structures resilience: strengthening coral reefs and food systems

The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded the Perry Institute for Marine Science, Inc., $1,288,526 on March 15, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to investigate approaches for strengthening coastal food systems threatened by concurrent drought and coral reef decline. The project team will work with local communities to develop new food sources, systems to retain nutrients locally, and a decision framework enabling communities to meet nutritional needs in the face of these compounding shocks. The work will employ continuous environmental data collection using cutting-edge monitoring techniques, including environmental DNA analysis and image and video-based mapping, to obtain high-resolution temporal data on marine and terrestrial ecosystem functioning. Initial work will build on previous efforts in southwest Madagascar, with the resulting framework designed for direct transfer to U.S. coastal regions—Florida, Hawaii, U.S. Caribbean islands, and U.S. Pacific islands—where drought and reef decline are impacting food security. The decision framework will enable communities to continually assess ecosystem health and update interventions to bolster food system resilience. Performance of work occurs in Waitsfield, Vermont, with period of performance from the award date through February 28, 2029.

Abstract

Coral reefs are a critical nexus of many food systems, as a primary source of protein and micronutrients for ~1 billion people, and they are highly sensitive to changing ocean and land conditions, which can deplete their nutritional capacity. Agriculture production is also negatively impacted, particularly in areas experiencing higher levels of drought. Thus, when drought and reef decline occur in tandem, IT signals a particularly grave threat to communities, making resilient food systems an immediate and critical challenge. This project will investigate different approaches to addressing these shocks to food systems. The project team will work with local communities to develop new food sources, systems to retain nutrients locally and a decision framework to enable communities to meet their nutritional needs. The project will rely on a continuous data collection program to assemble precise and up to date information. Temporal data will increase the resolution of the decision framework, thereby testing the ecosystem and food resource enhancement approaches on longer timescales. Data collection will leverage cutting-edge environmental monitoring techniques, including environmental DNA and image and video-based mapping and monitoring, to obtain a unique and holistic view on the functioning of the marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The project team will build on previous work in the test area of southwest madagascar, and the resulting framework with be directly transferable to other areas where drought and reef decline are impacting coastal communities in the united states such as florida, hawaii, the U.S. Islands in the caribbean and the pacific. This project will enable U.S. Communities to continually assess the health of the marine and terrestrial human-environment ecosystem and continually update the decision framework to bolster the food system and will be used as an early warning system for food shocks. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.