Puget Sound Institute launches in Tacoma

The Center for Urban Waters, in collaboration with the Puget Sound Partnership and the UW College of the Environment, this week announced the launch of a new initiative, the Puget Sound Institute.

The institute will bring together scientists, engineers and policy makers working on the restoration and protection of Puget Sound and will provide expert advice based on the best-available science.

The Center for Urban Waters is a joint partnership between UW Tacoma, the city of Tacoma, and the state's Puget Sound Partnership. Its mission is to further research on urban environmental issues and to develop solutions for water pollution in Tacoma and other coastal communities.

Funding for the Puget Sound Institute comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which last week was appropriated $50 million for cleaning up Puget Sound, including $4 million for creating the Puget Sound Institute. That bill is awaiting President Obama's signature.

By design, the Puget Sound Institute will serve as the bridge between the scientific community and those charged with restoring and protecting Puget Sound, said Joel Baker, UW Tacoma professor and Port of Tacoma Chair. Baker is also science director of the Center for Urban Waters. Among other activities, the institute will convene panels of experts to address difficult issues faced in restoring and protection of Puget Sound, much as the National Research Council does.

As the Puget Sound Partnership begins implementing its "action agenda," those overseeing the restoration want to ensure the actions taken by the Partnership are based on the best-possible scientific and technological understanding, Baker explained.

"The independence of universities, combined with the unique academic culture of convening experts, puts us in a key position to provide elected leaders and policy makers responsible for the restoration and protection of the Puget Sound ecosystem with expert advice based on sound scientific information and principles," Baker wrote in the proposal for the institute.

One key institute activity will be to convene leading authorities from a diversity of disciplines to conduct commissioned critical reviews and evaluations, providing credible, consensus-based information to the Legislature, government agencies and other interested groups. Another will be to form working groups to synthesize the available science to identify opportunities for progress on specific environmental issues.

Offices for the Puget Sound Institute will be located in the Center for Urban Waters building, now under construction in downtown Tacoma.