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NOAA Launches National Marine Debris Education Effort
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| First Lady Laura Bush has announced a new comprehensive effort aimed at reducing marine debris, with NOAA playing an important part.
Titled “Marine Debris 101,” the new NOAA marine debris Web site section is part of a multi-agency national campaign to provide the general public, as well as avid beachgoers, boaters, fishermen, students and educators with information on the impacts of marine debris and how they can become a part of the solution to reduce debris in the environment.
“I'm happy to announce our government will work to clean our planet’s oceans with a new Marine Debris Initiative,” said First Lady Laura Bush at the early November dedication of the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center at the University of Southern Mississippi. “The United States will work with international partners and organizations to prevent fishing gear from becoming lost in marine habitats. The centerpiece of this initiative will be our country's Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers. These centers form a network of 20 aquariums, museums, and research facilities, and they include the most prestigious marine facilities in our country.”
The Internet-based educational campaign for marine debris awareness and prevention answers President Bush’s call to increase public awareness and understanding of the global problem of marine debris.
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First Lady Laura Bush announced a new Administration initiative on marine debris during a ceremony at the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center-Gulf Coast Research Laboratory of the University of Southern Mississippi.
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| Cabinet Secretaries Tout NOAA Weather Radios for Schools |
| Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez highlighted the role NOAA Weather Radio in protecting students and faculty during severe weather and civil emergencies at a press conference on school preparedness at Mt. Vernon (Va.) High School on October 30. Secretary Gutierrez was joined by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff who have partnerned recently to provide NOAA Weather Radio receivers to the nearly 100,000 public schools across the country.
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Commerce Secretary Gutierrez (center at podium) was joined by Education Secretary Spellings (left) and Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff (right) at Mt. Vernon High School.
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NOAA Employee and Team Member of the Month
for November |
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Employee of the Month
Patricia Simms
Office of the Under Secretary |
Team Member of the Month
Dr. Lidia Cucurull
NOAA Satellites & Information Service
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NOAA’s Employee and Team Member of the Month for November are Patricia Simms, Office of the Under Secretary, and Dr. Lidia Cucurull, NOAA Satellite and Information Service.
Patricia Simms performs well above the call of duty in the office of the Under Secretary. Pat serves as intermediary between the Under Secretary and his often high-level visitors/dignitaries. She is responsible for ensuring the proper protocol and etiquette are followed by all employees when interacting with foreign dignitaries. Her positive attitude and efficient, organized and professional demeanor is highly valuable and critical to the success of the Under Secretary's office. Pat also often assists the NOAA Chief of Staff with the "hot task of the day," which frequently requires coordination with other administrative assistants within NOAA or leadership within the Department of Commerce. Led by Pat, the exceptionally coordinated teamwork with the Under Secretary's front office team and all staff/line offices within NOAA ensure an incredibly smooth administrative operation within the Under Secretary's office that is essential to the success of the agency.
Dr. Lidia Cucurull led the effort at the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation in conducting testing and exploitation of Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, the Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) data in the Global Forecast System, following its launch in April 2006. By December 2006, Dr. Cucurull and her colleagues demonstrated the benefits of COSMIC data on numerical weather prediction forecasts, and its implementation was scheduled for the next operational upgrade of the Global Forecast System, in the third quarter FY07. Due to Dr. Cucurull's exemplary efforts, five-day global upper air forecasts improved by three percent, and this new satellite data was ready for operational use in models less than one year after launch. This is extremely fast for a significantly new technology to be made useful to operations.
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NCDC Staffers Honored at Conference for Climate Change Panel Work |
NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center held a conference in November for its constituents in the insurance, transportation, and energy fields at its Asheville, N.C., headquarters. Dr. Bill Brennan, NOAA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and acting director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, kicked off the conference by congratulating the numerous NCDC employees who have contributed to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Conference attendees learned about how a changing climate can impact they way they do business. NOAA scientists helped attendees identify their climate information requirements, and discussed NOAA’s capabilities to meet those requirements.
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Dr. Bill Brennan, NOAA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs. honored NCDC employees for their work on climate change issues at a constituent conference in Asheville, N.C.
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NOAA Biologist Honored at White House Ceremony |
Mark Scheuerell, a research fisheries biologist at the NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Wash. was among those honored with the annual Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) November 1 in a White House ceremony.
PECASE honored 56 researchers, including Casey Brown of Columbia University, who was nominated by NOAA’s Climate Program Office.
Mark’s work with salmon populations and ecosystem dynamics was honored for its importance in providing critically needed information to a variety of managers for policy decisions.
PECASE was established in 1996 and is the nation’s highest honor for professionals at the beginning of their independent scientific research careers.
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President George W. Bush stands amidst recipients of the 2006 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers on the North Portico of the White House. Established in 1996, PECASE represents the highest honor that any young scientist or engineer can receive in the United States.
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