Interview: NOAA Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerator Program

Zach and his daughter enjoying kisses from a sea lion.

Santa Cruz Works (“SCWorks”) and Scoot Sciences (“Scoot”) were recently invited to speak at the 2024 NOAA conference in New Orleans.  The topics covered by Jonathan LaRiviere / CEO of Scoot and Doug Erickson / ED of SCWorks focused on building an accelerator and ecosystem to support ocean and planetary health. 

Coincidentally, NOAA announced the recipients of their Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerators program (“OCRA”) – a $60 million initiative to empower small businesses tackling climate challenges in our oceans and along the shores. By providing mentorship, resources, and potentially even seed funding, this program aims to accelerate the development of innovative solutions in areas like renewable energy, coastal protection, and ecosystem preservation. This focus on small businesses fosters public-private partnerships and injects fresh ideas into building a more climate-resilient future. The 16 accelerators in Phase One are listed at: Biden-Harris NOAA

Interview with Zach Baize: Mar 8, 2024

In this interview, we spoke with Zach Baize, the economist and program manager for NOAA's New Blue Economy program. In this role, Zach advises NOAA leadership in areas related to the marine economy, federal commercialization, and technology transfer. He also manages NOAA's Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerator program.

SCWorks: Zach, tell us about the ocean based climate accelerator program and your background.

Zack: I've been here at NOAA for about a year and a half now. Previous to that, I was at the US Department of Energy for almost 12 years, where I worked on commercialization and tech transfer and entrepreneurship. 

Regarding the Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerator program or what I'll call OCRA,  it's a program that NOAA devised to identify, and help develop small businesses, entrepreneurs, technologists that are developing products or services with potential applicability to the marine technology space: the Blue Economy. We assist with a startup’s business model, product market fit, value propositions, customer discovery, etc. 

SCWorks: What is the current state of the OCRA? 

Zack: We recently awarded and announced phase one of our two-phase program. In phase one, we've identified 16 different organizations across the country who have proposed to develop an accelerator program. These organizations focus on the marine technology sector. 

The OCRA program takes a two-pronged approach to combating climate challenges. Phase 1 awarded $3.9 million to organizations to design business accelerator programs specifically targeting coastal and ocean resilience. These programs will focus on areas like renewable energy, monitoring carbon storage, safeguarding against coastal hazards, and preserving ecosystems. Phase 2 specifics are still under wraps, but are anticipated to directly support the businesses chosen by these accelerators through resources, mentorship, and potentially even seed funding. This initiative aims to empower small businesses as key players in building a more climate-resilient future for our coasts.

The work we want to do in the blue economy (aka ocean enterprise which is a subset of the blue economy) will require public private partnerships, more interaction, more engagement with the private sector as a lot of the challenges and opportunities. The federal government wants to leverage private sector innovation, private sector resources, and in some cases private sector funding, to really address some of these challenges. We aim to ensure that effective communication channels exist between the public sector, including NOAA and our sister agencies, and the private sector. This will enhance our partnership, identifying opportunities where the private sector, with its resources and capabilities, might be better positioned to tackle some of the challenges associated with our mission. Moreover, we seek to highlight potential areas for significant economic development, an aspect we are keen to support and promote as part of our advancement efforts.

SCWorks: In the Monterey Bay, we see global warming issues ranging from sea level rise, atmospheric rivers, saltwater intrusion, rising ocean temperatures, diminishing fish and their habitats, and much more.  What problems does NOAA  OCRA target?  

Zack: You just encapsulated the bulk of it.  The ocean is undergoing significant transformations due to climate change and various geophysical shifts. Additionally, ocean usage is evolving dramatically, influenced by changes in shipping practices, the intensification of fishing, and the deployment of offshore renewable energy resources, among other energy developments. We find ourselves in a period of rapid change concerning oceanic conditions and activities.

Understanding the impacts of these oceanic changes on the environment, human health, and coastal cities is crucial. It is essential to have accurate and timely information about the ocean's state and how various uses and changes are influencing it. This knowledge is a vital component in addressing the wide range of challenges mentioned. Our focus is on identifying opportunities to enhance and expand our access to ocean information, ensuring it is readily available in forms that can significantly influence decision-making, development patterns, and other critical areas.

SCWorks: Is there any focus on desalination?

Zack: Desalination has not been a primary focus of our program so far, but it remains an interesting area. I have some experience with it from my time at the Department of Energy. Indeed, it falls within our broader scope of interest and is something that will require attention. It will require more research and science to scale effectively. 

SCWorks: Now let’s have some fun. A rogue wave of paperwork suddenly flooded your office. What would be your first line of defense?

Zack: My goodness. Rogue paperwork. It would probably be my grant specialists. She's a wizard at understanding the complexities of bureaucratic issues and paperwork. I've leaned on her quite a bit to understand how to cut through a lot of that.

SCWorks: Second fun question. If you could have any marine animal as a coworker, what would it be and why?

Zack: I'd probably say a sea lion because I've always really liked them.  I didn't grow up on the coast, but I spent summers on the Gulf coast in Florida. We would always go to a place called Gulf World. Now I take my daughter there every summer, so she loves the sea lions, too. 

SCWorks: Great!  Well you and your daughter must visit us in Santa Cruz. We have harbor seals, elephant seals, porpoises, dolphins, whales, and even a few surfers who might look like a seal from the distance.  Thank you!

OCRA Phase 1 Recipients 

Alaska

  • Alaska Oceans 2075: Accelerating a Resilient Future, Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, $249,540.

California

  • Activate Oceans Fellowship, ACTIVATE GLOBAL Inc., $202,431.

  • StartBlue Climate Ocean Resilience Accelerator Launchpad (CORAL), University of California San Diego, $250,000.

Florida

  • Catching the Blue Wave: Accelerating America’s Ocean Economy, Tampa Bay Wave, Inc., $250,000.

  • The Upwell Collaborative Accelerator, Seaworthy Collective, $249,848.

Hawaii

  • HITIDE Studio: Guiding the Commercialization Voyage of Ocean-Based Climate Resilient Technologies, University of Hawaii, $250,000.

Louisiana

  • CLIMATEx Accelerator Program, The Idea Village, Inc., $250,000.

Maine

  • OceanVista: Advancing Ocean Data for Climate Resilience, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, $250,000.

Massachusetts

  • VentureWell Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerator, VentureWell, $249,810.

  • Accelerating Climate & Ocean Resilience with Bluetech Innovation, SeaAhead, Inc., $249,299.

  • Accelerating Resilience: Linking Research, Industry, and the Public Across the Value Chain, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, $225,480.

New York

  • The National Ocean Renewable Power Accelerator - Ocean RePower, National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium, $249,991.

Virginia

  • OpenSeas Data Accelerator, Old Dominion University Research Foundation, $249,816.

  • NOAA Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerator, FedTech, $176,799 (full recommended funding: $249,844).

Washington

  • Washington Maritime Blue Ventures for Ocean-based Climate Solutions, Washington Maritime Blue, $248,403.

Wisconsin

  • Great Lakes Resilience Accelerator, gener8tor Management, LLC, $250,000.
     

Later this month, all Phase 1 awardees will be invited to apply to Phase 2 of the Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerators program, which will award up to a total of $55 million for the implementation of up to five proposed accelerators.



Doug EricksonNOAA, OCRA