Dr.
Mahoney, NOAA Deputy Administrator, Retires
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| Deputy
NOAA administrator Dr. James Mahoney
retired last month, after four years as the number two official
at NOAA and director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
At a Washington ceremony, Commerce Secretary Carlos
Gutierrez honored him with the William Redfield
Award, the department’s highest award. Named for the
first Commerce secretary, the award is given by the Secretary
to departing high ranking officials for their extraordinary
achievements and service.
“Jim
Mahoney has been my strong right arm at NOAA,” said
NOAA Administrator VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher,
who also spoke at the ceremony. “His dedication and
commitment to NOAA, coupled with his leadership, enthusiasm
and expertise have made him a major contributor to the effort
to improve the operations of NOAA and in the delivery of its
critically important services to our nation. It has been an
honor and privilege to serve with an individual of his extraordinary
skill and integrity.”
As
deputy NOAA administrator, Mahoney
helped to oversee the day-to-day functions of NOAA, as well
as laying out its strategic and operational future. Mahoney
also managed the development of a comprehensive research program
realignment aimed at better integrating observations and research
across all of NOAA.
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Commerce
Secretary Gutierrez honored retiring NOAA deputy administrator
Dr. James Mahoney with the William Redfield Award, the
department’s highest award, at a ceremony last
month. |
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NOAA
Awards Honor More than 300
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| More
than 300 NOAA employees from every line office and a multitude
of professions were given the spotlight last month at the
NOAA Honor Awards, held at the Mellon Auditorium in downtown
Washington. Hosted by Workforce Management director Eddie
Ribas, the awards honored NOAA personnel who
were the winners of Commerce Gold and Silver awards, NOAA
Bronze awards, and Distinguished Career awards, as well as
recent Employees and Team Members of the Month.
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Flanked
by VADM Lautenbacher and NOAA Fisheries deputy assistant
administrator John Oliver are Amy Van Atten, Joseph
Mello, Sara Quinn, David Potter, and Mary Woodruff,
who were awarded a group NOAA Bronze Medal award for
the fivefold expansion of the New England fisheries
observer program in less than two years.
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Joining
VADM Lautenbacher and NWS assistant administrator
Gen. D.L. Johnson on the stage of the Mellon Auditorium
were representatives from weather forecast offices
in Blacksburg, Va.; Raleigh, N.C.; Wakefield, Va.;
Sterling, Va.; Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.; State
College, Pa.; Binghamton, N.Y.; Birmingham, Ala.;
Huntsville, Ala.; Mobile, Ala., and the Middle Atlantic
River Forecast Center, who won a NOAA Bronze Medal
award for customer service enabling public officials
and citizens to take necessary, life-saving actions
during Hurricane Ivan.
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Workforce
Management director Eddie Ribas hosted the NOAA Honor
Awards, held last month at Washington’s Mellon
Auditorium.
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Employee and Team Member of the Month
for April
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| Employee of the Month
John
Jensenius
NOAA National Weather Service
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Team Member of the Month
Mike
Bancroft
NOAA
Fisheries
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NOAA’s
Employee and Team Member of the Month for April are
NWS’s John Jensenius, and NOAA Fisheries’s
Mike Bancroft.
As
the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the NWS Gray,
Me., forecast office, John began the first NWS lightning
safety awareness week campaign in New England, focusing
on Maine and New Hampshire. Building on his local success,
John took the campaign to a national audience in June
2001.
Mike
has served as the NOAA Fisheries representative in Pascagoula,
Miss., since 2001, during the construction of four state-of-the-art
fisheries survey vessels. His technical competence,
organizational skills, and leadership have been invaluable
in delivering vessels that will allow NOAA to conduct
at-sea research and monitoring safely and efficiently
for the next 30 years.
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The Anacostia Watershed
became a little bit cleaner last month thanks to the more
than 200 volunteers who participated in the Anacostia Watershed
Trash Cleanup on the Watts Branch — one of the most
environmentally degraded subwatersheds. The cleanup was co-sponsored
by NOAA’s Marine Debris Program and the Anacostia Watershed
Society, and is part of the NOAA Anacostia Initiative. Volunteers
from local schools, the community, the fire department, and
NOAA collected 70 tons of trash and an additional 800 tires
from the stream and woods.
At
the same time, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program also helped
to fund the first Potomac Trash-Free Summit held at the World
Bank. The summit brought together 300 individuals representing
county executives, city mayors, members of congress, federal
agencies, local and regional interest groups, and interested
citizens to identify and begin implementing solutions for
the enormous trash problem facing our local waters. NOAA Deputy
Assistant Secretary Tim Kenney was
on hand to open the summit, and Maryland Congressman Chris
Van Hollen thanked NOAA in his remarks for the
agency’s involvement in the Potomac Trash-Free Initiative,
which identifies clear steps to solve the area’s trash
problem, such as implementing monitoring and best management
practices at trash hot spots in our local waters.
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NOS
Assistant Administrator Jack Dunnigan lends a hand to
Jim Connelly, Director of the Anacostia Watershed Society,
during last month’s Anacostia Watershed Trash
Cleanup. |
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| NOAA
staff working in and around Arcata, Calif., participated in
the Humboldt State University 2006 Career Expo earlier this
year. NOAA staff from several line offices coordinated their
displays to emphasize the “One NOAA” theme, providing
students, faculty and the public a unified display of the
range of career opportunities within NOAA.
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| Participating
in the career expo were (left to right) Lt. Erich Bohabay,
NOAA Corps, Tim Broadman, NOAA Fisheries enforcement;
Nancy Dean, NWS; Sam Flanagan, NOAA Fisheries; John
P. Clancy, NOAA Fisheries; and Brett Lutz, NOAA Weather. |
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VADM
Meets with EPA Chief
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NOAA
Administrator Lautenbacher (left) met with EPA Administrator
Steve Johnson (right) late last month to discuss issues
of mutual interest including GEOSS, climate change,
ecosystem management, the President's Ocean Action Plan
and air quality issues. The meeting highlighted the
cooperation between the two organizations and areas
where further collaboration can lead to even greater
benefits for the nation. |
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