The Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (MARISA) program was established in September 2016 through a five-year grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 2021, MARISA received a second five-year grant to continue and expand our work. MARISA supports integrated, flexible processes for building adaptive capacity to climate variability and change in diverse Mid-Atlantic regional and subregional settings.
MARISA is led by the non-profit RAND Corporation, in partnership with researchers at Penn State University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William and Mary, Morgan State University, and Carnegie Mellon University.
MARISA partners with decisionmakers across sectors: natural resource management, planning and community development, public health, energy and infrastructure, and coastal restoration.
Guiding Values
- Commitment to environmental justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
- Forward-looking, adaptive methods to refine understanding and responses based on lessons learned and changing future conditions
- User-inspired approaches to research, education, and decision support
- Integrated, transdisciplinary research
