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First
Lady Gives New Name to NW Hawaiian Monument |
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NOAA
Sanctuary staff welcomed First Lady Laura Bush to Midway Atoll in
the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument earlier this month,
where she helped to announce the monument’s new native name,
and took in the area’s beauty, while getting acquainted with
an albatross.
This
particular short-tailed albatross, pictured facing the camera along
with two decoy birds, is a long-time resident of the island. "He's
been here about five years," said Mrs. Bush of her new, albeit
lonely friend. "He's 20 years old. They know because he was
banded in Japan. Of course, they are hoping to attract some young
short-tailed albatross. That's why the decoys are here also, so
there will be a mating pair here."
President
Bush designated the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument,
the single largest conservation area in U.S. history and the largest
protected marine area in the world, in June 2006.
Mrs. Bush and Commerce Deputy Secretary David Sampson also helped
in a ceremony to give the protected area a native name, the Papahanaumokuakea
Marine National Monument.
The
name is a combination of the names of two ancient Hawaiian deities
— Papahanaumoku, personified in the Earth, and Wakea,
personified in the expansive sky.
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First
Lady Laura Bush works with wildlife biologist John Klavitter
during a tour of Eastern Island on Midway Atoll, part of
the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Monument earlier
this month. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is pictured
in a red jacket.
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Commerce
Deputy Secretary David Sampson (at podium) was among the
participants in a ceremony to give the nation’s newest
national monument a native Hawaiian name.
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The
real albatross is facing you (we think), along with two
decoy birds designed to attract other birds to the island.
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Hazardous
Weather Week in Florida |
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As
part of Florida’s Hazardous Weather Awareness Week, NOAA Chief
of Staff Scott Rayder, Florida state meteorologist
Ben Nelson, and Florida governor Charlie Crist promoted severe weather
preparedness and NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards during a news conference
at Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary, in St. Petersburg, Fla., last
month.
NOAA’s
National Weather Service partnered with the Florida Division of
Emergency Management to provide students at Bay Vista with presentations
on severe weather — including a tornado simulation. The event
also included book readings by local officials, emergency vehicle
tours as well as a state-wide tornado drill.
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NOAA
Chief of Staff Scott Rayder spoke about the importance of
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards during a news conference
at Bay Vista Fundamental Elemental Elementary School in
St. Petersburg, Fla., last month. Looking on are (from left)
Governor Charlie Crist, Bay Vista principal Kris Sulte and
St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker.
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Employee and Team Member of the Month
for March |
| Employee of the Month
Shirley
Murillo
NOAA Research |
Team Member of the Month
Lawrence
Miller
NOAA's
National Weather Service
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NOAA’s
Employee and Team Member of the Month for March are
Shirley Murillo from NOAA Research and
Lawrence Miller from NOAA’s
National Weather Service.
A
research meteorologist for NOAA's Hurricane Research Division
in Miami, Shirley Murillo conducts research on the boundary
layer wind structure of landfalling tropical cyclones. As
a part of this research, she performs real-time surface
wind analyses that provide wind field products for use by
the National Hurricane Center, FEMA, and emergency managers.
This work has earned awards from NOAA's High Performance
Computing and Communications Center for her and her team.
She also works on a Doppler radar wind retrieval scheme
that deduces the primary circulation for landfalling hurricanes.
This technique helps to better understand the inner core
wind structure of tropical cyclone as they approach land.
Shirley has participated in numerous research flights into
tropical cyclones aboard NOAA's WP-3D aircraft over the
Atlantic Basin and Gulf of Mexico. On these flights she
has operated and monitored various instruments onboard the
aircraft, including the Doppler radar.
When
the captain of the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy reported
to the NWS Alaska region that his ship's antenna was malfunctioning,
and he was no longer receiving real-time NOAA Polar Operational
Environmental Satellite imagery to help guide his ship through
the treacherous Bering Sea ice, Lawrence Miller, a systems
administrator with the region immediately wrote a computer
script that automatically captured any visible and infrared
polar passes over the Bering Sea, converted the data to
a format the Coast Guard equipment could utilize, and pushed
it through the Internet to the ship. His dedicated efforts
quickly restored the ship's ability to navigate through
the Bering Sea's ice, and its crew's ability to conduct
the research on the effects of climate change on Bering
sea mammals. His unique and innovative approach, his flexibility,
and his selfless dedication reflected favorably upon him
and all of NOAA.
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NOAA
Line Offices Team Up for Ocean Discovery Day |
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NOAA
staff in Galveston, Texas, recently helped local families discover
oceans in a Saturday full of free fun and education. Three hundred
people attended the first annual NOAA Ocean Discovery Day in Galveston,
where they toured among the 20 activity stations representing NOAA
programs. Visitors learned everything from how Geographic Information
Systems are used to characterize habitats in NOAA Sanctuaries, to
why wetlands are important and how NOAA Fisheries protects them,
to how to tie knots that a NOAA Corps officer might use on a research
vessel. NOAA Enforcement was on hand to explain its role in protecting
our ocean treasures and NOAA's Texas Sea Grant university, Texas
A&M, was available to provide information about education opportunities
for young people aspiring to ocean careers. The event was organized
and hosted by the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
and by NOAA Fisheries' Galveston Lab to celebrate NOAA's 200th anniversary
and the sanctuary's 15th anniversary. In addition to local staff,
representatives from Monitor, Gray's Reef and Florida Keys National
Marine sanctuaries were on hand.
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Lt-JG
Lindsay Kurelja (NOAA Corps) demonstrates knot tying.
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Richard
Cook and Charles Tyer (Enforcement) explain their role in
protecting ocean resources.
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Copy? |
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