Coast Survey Biweekly Newsletter

December 6, 2017

Hello Coast Survey,

Over the past two weeks, each of our hydrographic ships returned to their respective homeports safely. It has been quite a field season and each ship has a lot to celebrate this year. Here are a few highlights.

NOAA Ship Rainier completed a multi-year survey project off the coast of Washington in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. They also surveyed the nearshore waters in the Channel islands National Marine Sanctuary during the months of October and November. In both projects, the ship collected bathymetry data to update nautical charts as well as generate backscatter imagery, which the sanctuaries use for habitat mapping. Between projects, Rainier collected bathymetry off the coast of Morro Bay, California, and shared this data with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Details of this project are provided in the spotlight section below.

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson collected high resolution multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data in Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine in support of deep sea coral research and hard bottom benthic habitat mapping. Thomas Jefferson also spent three weeks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands surveying ports and bays in response to Hurricane Maria. Over that three week period, the crew surveyed 13 areas and no fewer than 18 individual port facilities, as well as conducted emergency repairs to three tide and weather stations.

NOAA Ship Fairweather focused their survey efforts in western Alaska. Fairweather located the wreck of the F/V Destination, a crabbing vessel that sank in February 2017 off the coast of St. George Island in the Bering Sea. They also surveyed the mouth of the Yukon River, supporting remote communities and using the opportunity to validate satellite-derived bathymetry of the area. Finally, Fairweather focused survey efforts on Port Clarence in the Arctic. Port Clarence is a natural harbor located south of the Bering Strait that provides shelter to an increasing number of ships traveling via the Northwest Passage.

NOAA Ship Ferdinand R. Hassler spent much of the field season alongside in Baltimore, Maryland, for repairs. In late summer, Hassler surveyed the Approaches to Jacksonville, Florida, as the area is in need of updated survey data to meet the needs of larger, fully loaded ships transiting into the Port of Jacksonville.

Thank you to the officers and crewmembers onboard our hydro vessels. The survey work you do is critical to the maintenance of our nation’s infrastructure as well as the safety of all mariners. Most importantly, however, we are happy you have returned safely.

Rear Admiral Shepard M. Smith

CSDL's Coastal Marine Modeling Branch welcomes Dr. Wei Wu . Dr. Wu recently worked with the University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) on NOAA's VDatum team where she developed and upgraded tide models to determine uncertainties in VDatum's tidal datum transformations. Dr. Wu earned her Ph.D. in oceanography from Texas A&M University and has extensive oceanographic, atmospheric, and climate modeling experience working at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of North Dakota, and the Ocean University of Qingdao, China.

Dr. Gregory Seroka joined CSDL's Coastal Marine Modeling Branch from the NWS Ocean Prediction Center, where he worked with the I.M. Systems Group on coupled hydrodynamic and meteorological model development and on S-412 weather overlays for Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). Dr. Seroka earned his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in estuarine, coastal ocean hydrodynamic model development. He has expertise in ROMS modeling applications and coupled hydrodynamic-meteorological modeling.

Lucy Hick is serving as the acting chief of CSDL's Geospatial Applications Development Branch (GADB) on a 120-day detail. She comes to CSDL from the NSD where she recently served as acting division deputy. Prior to NSD, Lucy worked as a project manager in the Hydrographic Surveys Division, and was also a team lead for one of NSD's navigation response teams. Lucy has bachelor's degree in Ocean Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology, and is currently working to complete an master's degree in GIS management.

GADB chief, Kurt Nelson, is serving on a detail to the OCS Portfolio and Project Management (PPM) team, working to advance CSDL's goals to streamline the PPM process and oversee the management of the projects within the portfolio.

Corey Allen, Hydrographic Surveys Division (HSD) Operations Branch, began a detail in September as acting branch chief. Corey is a longtime HSD employee. We’re excited to be able to harness Corey’s technical expertise and leverage his leadership during this transition of branch leadership.

Lt. Cmdr. Olivia Hauser is the incoming branch chief for HSD's Pacific Hydrographic Branch (PHB). Olivia most recently served as the executive officer on the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, providing steadfast leadership to her crew and management of the complex hotel and business services on board the Thomas Jefferson. She also provided extra operational and administrative support during Thomas Jefferson's Hurricane Maria response. This is Olivia’s third tour with Coast Survey, her first and second tours were in CSDL's Hydrographic Systems and Technology Branch (HSTB) as the HSTB East Coast liaison and then as HSTB branch chief. Olivia brings dedication and positive energy and we’re looking forward to working with her in this new capacity. Welcome back, Olivia!

Thank you to Cecelia Linder, National Marine Fisheries Service, for a great job as the acting branch chief of PHB from June through October 2017. Cece was an asset to PHB and to the HSD during her tenure as acting branch chief, working closely with the two branch team leads and diving headfirst into the technical and administrative details of the job. Cece showed great initiative and introduced a valuable outside perspective, all while advocating for the needs and interests of PHB.

Thank you as well to Pete Holmberg, who stepped in as acting branch chief at PHB after Cece left and before Olivia fully onboarded. Pete’s ability to seamlessly transition from team lead to acting chief is invaluable and ensures a consistent leadership presence even in times of transition.