COMIT is a five-year, $9 million cooperative agreement with NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. It has been developing new technologies and approaches to ocean and coastal zone mapping to help build resilient coastal ecosystems, communities and economies. As of January 2024, just over half of U.S. waters have been mapped at 100-meter resolution or better (IOCM-NOAA, 2024). The Tampa Bay region is included in this allocation, but storms and other high energy events move sediment around necessitating frequent surveys. COMIT’s areas of focus include using uncrewed systems for more efficient mapping, developing tools for more precise seafloor measurement, hydrographic surveying for post-storm channel surveys to reopen waterways and ports and tidal, sea level and storm surge simulations. The group has worked to train the next generation of hydrographers by recruiting at Marine Technology Society’s OCEANS Conference, and by presenting at GOMCON (Gulf of Mexico Conference) and other events. COMIT fuses the undergraduate to graduate pathway by offering experiential learning opportunities to USF and SPC students like the Collaborative Oceanographic Research Experience (CORE) research cruises in the Gulf of Mexico and the NOAA-funded survey expedition on the RV Nancy Foster to the Blake Plateau. COMIT has also developed a ‘Crowd the Bay’ program which uses the regional recreational boating community to crowdsource bathymetry data. COMIT has worked closely with the Florida Coastal Mapping Program leveraging the recent bold investment of $100 million from the State for seafloor mapping.