One of the three primary objectives of PRISM was to engage in the Puget Sound Region in a meaningful way (in an initial climate where the UW was not seen as an active partner in regional environmental affairs). PRISM engagement is structured to consist of pro-active partnerships, in which PRISM associates and tools are focused on issues of the region, as so represented by the agencies and citizen groups of Puget Sound. Prominent PRISM partnerships include:
- Puget Sound-wide Ecosystem Research and Management
- Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program (HCDOP)
- Joint Effort to Monitor the Strait of Juan de Fuca (JEMS)
- King County Programs
- Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS)
- Oceanic Remote Chemical-optical Analyzer
- Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program (PSAMP)
- Puget Sound Marine Environmental Modeling (PSMEM) partnership
- Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Modeling
- Washington State Agency Programs
