ICBR: Capacity: Biological Collections: Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota (NCMA)

An award is made to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences to support the strategic operation of the Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota (NCMA). The NCMA curates a globally-unique algal genetic resource and distributes about 1,000 algae strains each year to students and educators, research communities, and companies worldwide. These users work with algae to investigate fundamental questions in biology and global processes, and to develop use-inspired biotechnology solutions for the blue economy and improved agricultural practices for societal benefit. Through its partnership with the educational non-profit The Algae Foundation, NCMA’s cultures enrich the education and scientific literacy of more than 50,000 high school students in the U.S. each year. NCMA offers two expert professional training short courses on Algal Culturing Techniques and Marine Harmful Algae Taxonomy, training about 25 professionals in the algal workforce each year. NCMA, through the genetic diversity it maintains, gives users a genomic and biochemical “compass” to discover new medicines, develop new bioenergy alternatives, improve agricultural practices, and validate early-warning tools for harmful algal blooms. This project will: (1) broaden the biodiversity of NCMA’s holdings in response to national research needs under NSF data-sharing rules; (2) develop a robust knowledge infrastructure comprised of detailed and validated biochemical datasets for NCMA algal strains; (3) expand high-throughput cryopreservation techniques, protecting irreplaceable strains for future innovation; (4) sequence unresolved strains to strengthen national algal genetic reference libraries in support of biotechnology developments; and (5) continue to train the next generation of the algal workforce through university partnerships and short professional courses. Investing in NCMA fortifies U.S. leadership in marine science, accelerates breakthrough technologies for the blue economy, and delivers unmatched research infrastructure to universities, startups, and federal agencies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.