About NPRB

Congress created the North Pacific Research Board in 1997 to recommend marine research initiatives to the US Secretary of Commerce, who makes final funding decisions.

Cynthia Suchman New NPRB executive director

Dr. Cynthia Suchman came to the NPRB from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Virginia, where she served as an Associate Program Director in the Division of Ocean Sciences for three years.

Her responsibilities at NSF included development and implementation of a new interagency program with NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Comparative Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization (CAMEO).

Prior to her tenure at NSF, Dr. Suchman was Assistant Director of the Virginia Sea Grant program, a NOAA-funded effort to combine marine research, outreach, and education to address state and local priorities. She was also awarded a Knauss Marine Science Policy Fellowship, where she worked as legislative staff for the U.S. House Committee on Resources on fisheries and wildlife issues.

A biological oceanographer with expertise in zooplankton ecology, Dr. Suchman has participated in research projects in the North Atlantic, coastal New England, Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay, the California Current, and the Adriatic Sea. She was a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow with scientists at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Newport, Oregon, and continues collaborations there regarding the effects of climate variability on jellyfish populations.

Our funding source

The Board’s research funds are based on the interest earned by the Environmental Improvement and Restoration Fund (EIRF), created by Congress and derived from the Dinkum Sands case.

Each year, 20 percent of the interest is made available to the Secretary without further appropriation to carry out marine research activities. The enabling legislation calls for EIRF funds to be used to:

“...conduct research activities on or relating to the fisheries or marine ecosystems in the north Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean (including any lesser related bodies of water).... [with]...priority on cooperative research efforts designed to address pressing fishery management or marine ecosystem information needs.”

NPRB funding has been used by investigators in 22 states, as well as in Russia and Canada. See map

Annual Requests for Proposals (RFPs)

The Board annually establishes written criteria for the submission of grant requests through a competitive process and for deciding upon the award of grants. The Board receives advice from various panels and committees, and recommends grants based on the merits of the request and the extent to which the proposed research meets the priorities established by the Board.

The Secretary, through his designee, the Alaska Regional Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, reviews all grants recommended by the Board. If the Secretary decides not to approve a project recommended by the Board, then the Secretary must explain his reasons in writing. The amount recommended to be used for such grants will be available only for other grants recommended by the Board.