University of New Hampshire breaks ground on ocean mapping center of excellence
The University of New Hampshire (UNH), a New England Council member, has broken ground on a new 70,500-square-foot facility that will house the Center of Excellence for Operational Ocean and Great Lakes Mapping. Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute for Standards and Technology, the state-of-the-art research, office, and instructional space in Durham is expected to open in fall 2027.
The facility builds on a longstanding partnership between UNH and NOAA, dating back to 1999, that has made the university a global leader in ocean floor and coastal mapping. Since its inception, the center has mapped more than one million square kilometers of ocean floor, discovered shipwrecks, and pioneered the use of autonomous vehicles for ocean data collection. The new building will include high-bay areas for staging equipment and small vessels, as well as dedicated space for industry partners to co-locate — with the number of companies co-locating at UNH growing by more than 400% since 2022.
“This new building will provide an advanced facility for our world-renowned Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping and expand UNH’s decades-long leadership in hydrographic excellence,” said UNH President Elizabeth Chilton. “We are immensely grateful to NOAA and to Senator Jeanne Shaheen for their ongoing commitment to UNH’s excellence in seafloor mapping.”
The New England Council congratulates the University of New Hampshire for its continued leadership in ocean mapping research and innovation, advancing public-private partnerships that strengthen New Hampshire’s coastal economy and workforce.
Read more on UNH’s website.