What We Do

The Coastal States Organization represents the nation’s coastal states and territories on coastal management issues, working to:

  • Help states and territories maintain their leadership role in the development and implementation of national coastal and ocean policy.
  • Investigate new and emerging scientific and social science knowledge to apply to coastal decision-making, developing and disseminating products such as reports, tools, trainings, and webinars for coastal management end users.
  • Provide training and mentorship to recent grad school graduates as they become coastal practitioners through the NOAA Digital Coast and Knauss Fellowships, and provide education and experience to current coastal students through an extern and internship program.
  • Provide information, updates, and alerts that keep states attuned to developments from Washington, D.C., other coastal states, and emerging academic research.
  • Conduct outreach and education with Congress and the Administration.
  • Maintain a national coastal and ocean management community of practice.
  • Use Work Groups to assess coastal science data and research needs, policy and legal research needs, and implement specific initiatives or address topic areas that are of importance to the membership.

Work Groups

CSO members convene Work Groups to implement specific initiatives or explore topic areas that are of importance to the membership.

Partnerships and Collaborations

CSO works in collaboration with federal, regional, and nonprofit partners to develop innovative methods to address coastal management issues.

Issues

The Coastal States Organization works with the nation’s coastal States, Territories, and Commonwealths to address coastal management issues on local, regional, and national scales.

Research

CSO investigates new and emerging scientific and social science knowledge to apply to coastal decision-making, developing and disseminating products such as reports, tools, trainings, and webinars for coastal management end users.