Current and Past Ruth D. Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grant Projects
The Ruth D. Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grants support resilient coral ecosystems.
Since 2020, NOAA has provided more than $4 million to support Ruth D. Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grant projects as part of NOAA’s efforts to restore resilient coral ecosystems. Below are descriptions of projects funded in Fiscal Years 2020 - 2025.
View Ruth D. Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grants Funding Opportunity information.
2024-2025
- Up to $521,480 was recommended for Arizona State University, working with the State of Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources, to assess thermal tolerance of corals in West Hawaiʻi; evaluate the cost-efficacy of this intervention and develop guidance incorporating it into coral restoration activities; and integrate this work into the ʻĀkoʻaʻkoʻa vocational training program to support coral restoration.
- Up to $488,075 was recommended for Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute, partnering with the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology Coral Resilience Lab, to outplant thermally tolerant corals at Olowalu Reef on Maui; assess ways to improve coral rearing in land-based nurseries; and conduct hands-on community engagement events to increase understanding of and support for this work.
- Up to $387,016 was recommended for Georgia Institute of Technology, working with University of Miami, to conduct experiments to determine if the probiotic, Halobacteriovorax, can treat and prevent disease induced from the pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus in staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis). Halobacteriovorax is a genus of marine bacteria that prey on vibrios and other bacteria.
2023
- The University of Alabama was awarded $614,970 to work with Mote Marine Laboratory and the University of Delaware to collect algal fluorescence data using a low-cost, non-lethal optical tool. Algal fluorescence correlates to the bleaching response in elkhorn and staghorn coral, which are heavily used in reef restoration projects throughout the Florida Keys and the Caribbean. The data will be used to optimize a model for accurately predicting coral thermal tolerance.
2022
- Nova Southeastern University was awarded $728,581 to work with Mote Marine Laboratory, The Florida Aquarium, and the University of North Carolina, Wilmington to help determine the optimal light to maximize the survival and growth of young corals before, during, and immediately after the uptake of their algal endosymbionts. This will enable them to rapidly and effectively upscale production of genetically-diverse corals for restoration.
2021
- SECORE International, Inc. received $57,950 to test self-stabilizing coral outplanting substrates in the University of Miami’s SUSTAIN tank (SUrge-STructure-Atmosphere INteraction), a wind-wave simulator, to refine the substrate design to improve retention in a natural environment.
- The Florida International University was awarded up to $279,492 to investigate the feasibility to improve restoration and enhance coral resilience by attempting to make corals withstand increased temperatures.
- The University of Southern California, working with the Mote Marine Laboratory, was awarded up to $333,795 to quantify the thermal tolerance of nursery-reared elkhorn corals and identify genomic signatures associated with key thermal resilience traits
2020
- The University of Hawaii was awarded up to $837,431 to address a knowledge gap in coral assisted evolution by assessing how selectively bred corals can increase adaptation in natural reproduction by improving the temperature tolerance of future coral populations.
- The University of Miami was awarded up to $452,774 to assess the feasibility of increasing the genetic diversity to restore elkhorn coral populations in Florida by cross breeding corals with Northwest Bahamas or other Caribbean sourced corals.
- Johnston Applied Marine Sciences was awarded up to $485,618 to test a new settlement substrate for coral larvae in order to scale up coral restoration efforts through the outplanting of sexually derived juvenile corals. The project will also build capacity in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to implement coral sexual propagation.
- The Pennsylvania State University was awarded up to $592,389 to analyze four coral species in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida to understand genetic and molecular mechanisms related to thermal tolerance and resilience.