Student Opportunity: 2024 Data Challenge

Integrating Monitoring Systems to Support Coastal Communities

The Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA) Data Challenge invites undergraduate students, graduate students, and early career professionals to develop a project that combines multiple southeast datasets to support one or more coastal communities by addressing a timely and relevant issue. 

There are two $3,500 prizes available. Proposals are due 5:00 PM, Friday, October 25, 2024 via egrants.secoora.org.

SECOORA is committed to building inclusive research, extension, communication, education, and outreach programs that serve people with unique backgrounds, circumstances, needs, perspectives, and ways of thinking. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply for this competitive opportunity.

Overview

A coastal ocean observing system (COOS) is a combination of many components—from hardware to humans—used to gather data and turn it into scientifically-sound products that support human populations, coastal economies, and a healthy, sustainable environment.

SECOORA is the COOS for North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. A main goal of SECOORA is to collect, discover, integrate, and provide access to a variety of coastal ocean data – biological, physical, and more – to meet the needs of communities. 

SECOORA is looking to our next generation of coastal and ocean scientists, managers, decision makers, coders, and entrepreneurs to integrate coastal observing data to address an issue faced by one or more coastal communities that impacts quality of life, such as sunny-day flooding, harmful algal blooms, shoreline erosion, etc. 

The Data

We are encouraging the integration of data across multiple disciplines. The projects must use publicly available data and at least one dataset must be downloaded through the SECOORA Data Portal or using SECOORA Data Services (i.e., Webcamera Coastal Observation System (WebCOOS), Southeast Water Level Network, How’s The Beach, etc.). View Table 1 in the full announcement for example datasets.

Prizes and Eligibility

SECOORA is offering one $3,500 prize for each of the two categories. Applicants can work as an individual or in teams for either category. If working as a team, all team members must meet the eligibility requirements.  

Category 1: Undergraduate Student

Applicants must 1) attend an academic institution and reside in the United States, 2) have an advisor/mentor from the institution they attend, 3)  be enrolled as an undergraduate student during the Fall 2024 semester, and 4) propose a project that incorporates at least one set of data downloaded through the SECOORA Data Portal or using SECOORA Data Services.

Category 2: Graduate Student or Early Career Professional 

Applicants must 1) reside in the United States, 2) be a graduate student OR an early career professional (working less than five years from your most recent graduation date), 3) have an advisor/mentor, and 4) propose a project that incorporates at least one set of data downloaded through the SECOORA Data Portal or using SECOORA Data Services. 

How to Apply

Each applicant or team must submit their proposal by 5:00 PM, Friday, October 25, 2024 through egrants.secoora.org. All proposals will be evaluated based on the review criteria in this announcement, and if chosen as the winning project, the successful applicant will have until December 15, 2025 to complete the project. All winning projects will be featured on secoora.org. Proposals can only be submitted in one category.

Questions

Questions regarding proposal submission may be submitted to communications@secoora.org. Good-faith efforts will be made to answer as many questions as possible, but an answer is not guaranteed for every question.