SBIR Phase I: The Emerald Tutu

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide a nearshore (just offshore of inhabited coastal land, in shallow water) solution to reduce coastal flooding. The proposed project addresses a need to lessen heavy flood protection solutions based on carbon-intensive concrete in the form of seawalls and other barriers. This project will prototype an interconnected network of floating growth mats, made to seed marsh grass above the water and seaweed below. The heavy biomass of these mats and their network properties as a large interconnected group provides wave and storm surge reduction. A proposed turnkey kit offers a low-cost system, readily deployable and expandable over time. Additionally, as a floating park-like marine landscape, it has many co-benefits to the surrounding communities. As plant-based infrastructure, it serves as a site for native marsh grasses and local seaweeds to populate, providing new habitats and improving water quality. This SBIR Phase I project is a natural coastal resilience technology designed to be pre-fabricated, modular, and easy to implement for a variety of coastal environments and communities. The technology consists of robust vegetated mats linked in a network and deployed in the nearshore. The mats are colonized by local varieties of semi-aquatic marsh flora above the water line, and aquatic seaweeds below. Research objectives to validate this approach include comparing mat network performance in a range of flow conditions, including extreme waves, to inform mat design. A second research thrust will measure biomass accumulation and ecological performance through in situ deployments of mat structures.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.