University of New Orleans secures grant for Navy project

The grant will enable researchers to help the U.S. Navy analyze large-scale data including meteorological and oceanographic information.
The grant will enable researchers to help the U.S. Navy analyze large-scale data including meteorological and oceanographic information.

The University of New Orleans' Joseph Canizaro and James Livingston Center for Environmental Informatics which was established in October received its first research grant this week.

The center is housed within the Department of Computer Science and focuses on the science of information applied to environmental science. Funded through a donation from real estate developer Joseph Canizaro and Maj. Gen. James Livingston, the center uses expertise from faculty and research staff across many departments such as computer science, environmental engineering and biology.

The nearly $1 million Naval Research Laboratory grant will enable researchers to help the U.S. Navy analyze large-scale data including meteorological and oceanographic information.

“UNO researchers will build a big geospatial data cloud for the Navy,” Center for Environmental Informatics Director Mahdi Abdelguerfi, the principal investigator of the grant, said. “As a result, the Navy will be able to reduce its costs for future system development and ultimately decrease its time and manpower in planning and executing missions.”

The center's staff collaborates with individuals from places such as the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to create systems aimed at improving environmental project management.