ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19918 

STUDY TITLE: Management of Coastal Marine Institute’s Task Orders 

REPORT TITLE: Management of the MMS-LSU Coastal Marine Institute: A Report of 

the First Six Years 1992-1998 

CONTRACT NUMBERS: 14-35-0001-30660-19918 

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Gulf of Mexico 

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA: Central Gulf 

FISCAL YEARS OF PROJECT FUNDING: 1994 - 1998 

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: August 2001 

COST(S): FY 1994: $131,656; FY 1995: $15,794; FY 1996: $6,000; FY 1997: 

$37,129; FY 1998: $23,820; CUMULATIVE PROJECT COSTS: $214,390 

PROJECT MANAGER: Robert S. Carney 

AFFILIATION: Coastal Marine Institute, Louisiana State University 

ADDRESS: Coastal Marine Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La. 

70803 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Robert S. Carney 

KEY WORDS: Coastal Marine Institute, Project Management, University Research, 

Louisiana 

BACKGROUNG: The Coastal Marine Institute (CMI) at Louisiana State University was 

established for an initial six years (1992-1998) as a cooperative agreement between the 

state and the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The 

basic intent of CMI was to direct the considerable research talents of a major research 

university towards federal and state information needs in a state where Outer 

Continental Shelf development of the oil and gas industry is a major factor. Funding for 

all projects undertaken has been equally divided between MMS and Louisiana 

resources. A Management Task was established to oversee CMI. 

OBJECTIVES: The CMI Management Task coordinated annual identification of topics 

and carried out pre-proposal and proposal solicitation. Once awarded, CMI projects 

were administered by MMS contracting officers and contracting officer’s technical 

representatives. CMI Management facilitated interaction with PI’s on a case to case 

basis. CMI Management arranged for and oversaw Louisiana matching funds. 
ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19918 

DESCRIPTION: The Management Task established a CMI Management Office. A 

director, Robert S. Carney, was assisted by an administrative specialist, Madolyn Cox, 

and undergraduate student workers. The director maintained close contact with MMS 

personnel in New Orleans and in the Headquarters Office concerning issues 

appropriate for CMI research. During the annual Gulf of Mexico Region ITM, the 

director would meet with MMS officials and mutually agree upon routine and special 

information topics. The CMI Management Office would then solicit, receive, and 

transmit to MMS pre-proposals. Following MMS internal review, the director would 

meet with MMS and identify, solicit, and transmit to MMS projects for full proposal 

submission. The director would again meet with MMS for the mutual acceptance or 

rejection of proposals. During the course of CMI tasks, the CMI Management Office 

provided budgetary and reporting oversight. 

SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS: The CMI Management Task did not undertake studies 

leading to conclusions. Conclusions are reported separately for each study task. 

STUDY RESULTS: During its initial six years, CMI has been exceptionally effective. 

Fifty projects have been funded employing the talents of 64 faculty researchers, 14 

postdoctoral associates, 26 Ph.D. candidates, 22 master's candidates, and 38 

undergraduate workers. As projects have been completed, publication in the peerreviewed literature has been very good creating a greater awareness in the academic 

community for issues of resource development. The total cost to MMS and LSU has 

been equal at $11,360,000 each. All of this has been achieved at a management cost 

of less than 2%. Research tasks fell into five broad categories: Information 

Dissemination (4 projects at $1,325,000), Chemical Fates, Effects, and Bioremediation 

(13 projects at $2,053,000), Offshore Structure Ecology (6 projects at $2,807,000), 

Physical Oceanography and Meteorology (12 Projects at $2,661,000), Deepwater 

Environment Studies (4 projects at $810,000), and Socioeconomics and Policy (16 

projects at $2,225,000). 

STUDY PRODUCTIONS: The CMI Management Task produced a final report: Carney, 

R.S. 2001. Management of the MMS-LSU Coastal Marine Institute: A report of the first 

six years, 1992-1998; Final report. OCS Study MMS-2001-062. U.S. Dept. of the 

Interior, Minerals Mgmt. Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, La. 92 pp.