Dr. Patrick O'Rourke talks about the long-term agreement between the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Marine Pollution Assessment (OMPA), the significance of NOAA initiating the process at UAF, being a national statement of the significance of some of the research activity and the quality of the science that we do at UAF, not automatically resulting in money for research projects, contracts with the agency will still being negotiated separately, establishing a long-range trust for their science as it would pertain to cooperative arrangements with NOAA and OMPA, contracts negotiated in the future enhancing the objectives of the agreement, hoping the formalization of the agreement will result in more scientific research dollars for UAF, the unstable federal budget, the formal agreement enhancing the already outstanding national and international reputation of many of the university's research institutes, impact on the Institute of Marine Sciences and the Geophysical Institute, the agreement signifying recognition locally, state-wide, and nationally and internationally that UAF is involved in solving complex marine pollution issues which have more than just scientific interest and have a major impact on the welfare and improvement of the state of Alaska and on the nation. Cedzo said part of the goals of the memorandum of understanding are to improve the understanding of Alaskan coastal marine and continental shelf areas including the high Arctic, the ability to predict changes induced by human use, and the ability to manage to oceanic and coastal waters to conserve their multi use character.