New England Aquarium Corporation

New England Aquarium Corporation is a Boston-based nonprofit organization specializing in marine research, conservation, and environmental monitoring. The organization serves as a prime awardee for both federal contracts and grants, with a demonstrated expertise in marine species monitoring, aerial survey operations, ecosystem assessment, data analysis, and endangered species protection. The aquarium has established itself as a critical partner to federal agencies seeking to advance marine conservation objectives and support informed decision-making regarding ocean resource management, particularly in coastal and offshore environments.

Through federal contracts, New England Aquarium Corporation has provided extensive marine species monitoring and survey services, primarily funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The organization has been awarded multiple definitive contracts and purchase orders totaling over $9 million for protected species aerial survey services in the Gulf of Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island Wind Energy Areas, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, with contract values ranging from $135,000 to $4.14 million and performance periods extending through 2029. These contracts encompass high-resolution aerial photography, line transect surveys, data analysis, and daily reporting to document the presence and distribution of protected marine species including North Atlantic right whales, sea turtles, marine mammals, and other species of conservation concern. Additionally, the aquarium has received contracts for specialized services such as cold-stunned sea turtle triage and rehabilitation ($135,000), whale hormone analysis through biopsy sample testing ($259,083), and development of data visualization platforms for anthropogenic events tracking affecting North Atlantic right whales ($248,830). All of these contracts were awarded without set-aside designations following competitive solicitations or, in the case of specialized analytical work, on a sole-source basis due to the organization's unique technical capabilities. The aquarium has not served as a prime recipient of federal contract vehicles for other federal agencies beyond NOAA.

Through federal grants, New England Aquarium Corporation has demonstrated diverse capabilities across marine research, workforce development, and economic development initiatives. The organization serves as a prime grantee for cooperative agreements and project grants funded by multiple federal agencies including NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Office of Naval Research, and the Economic Development Administration. Recent prime grant awards include a $188,121 project grant from NOAA's Marine Mammal Data Program to develop and test a Whale Aerial Sampling Platform for remote drone-based biopsy collection; a $3 million project grant from the Economic Development Administration's BUILD TO SCALE program to fund the Blue Angels Upswell Project, which provides capacity building for angel investors in bluetech startups; and a $486,672 project grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to develop a STEM apprenticeship program for underrepresented communities in the Boston area. The organization also holds cooperative agreements with NOAA for sea turtle behavioral analysis related to dredging operations impacts (award date September 2025, through September 2030), nurse shark breeding population monitoring at Dry Tortugas National Park, marine mammal monitoring and public engagement in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, recreational fishing impact studies on bull sharks and spinner sharks, and leatherback sea turtle entanglement research. Additional cooperative agreements support acoustic telemetry research on highly migratory species in offshore wind energy areas and post-release mortality studies on porbeagle sharks. The aquarium also participates as a sub-grantee on multiple federal awards from prime grantees including George Mason University, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Tufts University, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Technology Center, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Duke University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the University of Connecticut, contributing expertise in endocrine analysis, marine aerial surveys, climate adaptation research, marine aquaculture propagation, and shellfish aquaculture siting tools.