NOS Names Kevin Sellner
Employee of the Month
Dr. Kevin Sellner is NOAA's June
Employee of the Month.
By actively moving
scientific research results into public monitoring and rapid response
operations, his work is helping communities to curtail threats
to public health, coastal resources and coastal economies.
As a member of the National Ocean Service's Center for Sponsored
Coastal Ocean Research, Kevin is completing his fourth year of
coordinating an interagency program aimed at reducing impacts
from recurrent and accelerating exposures to harmful algal species
and their toxins. Integrating scientific research with the immediate
and critical need to rapidly detect and warn about the harmful
effects of noxious algae, the program is known as the Ecology
and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms.
The interagency partnership includes the National Ocean Service,
NOAA Research, and NOAA Fisheries, and funding support from the
National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, NASA, and
EPA. Four published funding announcements have resulted in over
$40 million in total support for peer-reviewed projects.
In finalizing the review and panel of the most recent funding
opportunity, Kevin wore many hats. He organized mail review from
about 400 members of the research community and helped select
15 researchers to sit on the review panel. He co-chaired the panel,
packaged all proposals, provided guidance to each panel member,
organized panel responses for proposal recommendations, and assisted
in identifying projects for the National Ocean Service in addition
to simultaneously filling several other roles.
In addition, Kevin has helped advance a second harmful algal bloom
program under the Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research,
seeking out other scientific researchers to support this effort
as well. And, with National Ocean Service partners in Charleston,
Beaufort and Silver Spring, Kevin developed a long-term harmful
algal bloom implementation plan with activities that will result
in the distribution of $11 million both within and beyond the
National Ocean Service.
