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Oct
10, 2002
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an
online newsletter for and by NOAA employees
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For "sustained, superior performance" in managing two very distinct and highly effective 
coral reef restoration projects, Craig Kruempel, of Coastal Planning and
Engineering, Inc in Florida, is NOAA's new Team Member of the Month.
As project leader, Craig's "tireless, positive" approach empowered a diverse
team of professionals to accomplish the innovative, challenging tasks in
the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Craig is a contractor with NOAA's
Office of Finance & Administration. Craig led one undersea effort to design and rebuild the outside shell of a reef, recreating four "fingers" or reef spurs that had been gouged by a ship with large limestone rock, underwater concrete and fiberglass/ceramic bars. He led a second effort to restore a reef that had been "decimated like a pancake" from a ship grounding. Twenty-two concrete modules, complete with cavities for critters, were built off-site, then attached to the seafloor and blended into the ocean community "as if humans had never been there." In both restorations, Craig managed teams of environmentalists, coastal engineers, ecologists, fisheries biologists and economists. He kept very tight project schedules moving and introduced new insight into the evolving design of coral restoration. His skill ensured that both coral reef restoration initiatives are just about invisible. Craig's efforts ranged from addressing issues tied to the Environmental Impact Statement process and securing reviews and approvals from local, state and federal agencies to obtaining necessary permits, presenting the project design at public meetings and developing an outstanding set of bidding/construction documents. He managed the on-site monitoring of the construction contractor's performance throughout the restoration and provided full final reports on all aspects of both projects. On many levels, NOAA's committed to protecting coral reefs and sustaining their health and that of the coastal economies that depend on them. But even when there's apparent destruction, NOAA's on the scene making every effort to help reefs regain their original majesty. For more about both restoration efforts in the Florida Keys, please visit http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/special/reef/. |
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