U.S. Coast Pilot® now contains Coast Guard navigation rules
All nine Coast Pilot volumes contain the USCG "Rules of the
Road."
Coast Survey recently announced that all nine
United States Coast Pilot® volumes now contain the U.S. Coast Guard International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (72 COLREGS) and the Inland Navigation Rules — commonly known as the “
Rules of the Road.” The navigation rules are similar to rules on the highway as they present a consistent way to navigate safely and avoid collisions. Having the newly published Coast Pilot now fulfills the legal requirement for mariners to maintain a copy of these regulations on board. The newly added USCG regulations are found in Appendix B of all nine Coast Pilot volumes. Thank you to
Tom Loeper, Nautical Publications Branch chief,
Frank Powers, and
Rick Powell for their efforts on this project. For more information contact
Thomas.Loeper@noaa.gov.
Coast Survey attends first meeting of the UN-GGIM Working Group on Marine Geospatial Information
Members of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information
Management's Working Group on Marine Geospatial
Information.
John Nyberg, Marine Chart Division chief, and
Patrick Keown, Coast Survey’s geospatial data program manager, attended the first meeting of the
United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management's Working Group on Marine Geospatial Information in Busan, Korea, from March 7-9. Nyberg serves as the working group's co-chairman, along with a representative from Burkina Faso. The working group aims to increase the availability of high-quality, timely, and reliable geospatial information in the marine domain in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The meeting resulted in an agreement to support the Open Geospatial Consortium in the preparation of a guide on the role of standards for marine geospatial information management in plain language. The group also worked on refining their approach to an upcoming case study on the value of making marine geospatial information available to the global community. The meeting included 42 expert representatives from 12 member states and several private sector organizations. For more information contact
John.Nyberg@noaa.gov.
Coast Survey's employment opportunities attract students and recent graduates at geography conference
Ashley Chappell (right) and John Macek (left) speak with AAG
conference attendees at the NOAA booth.
Last week Coast Survey hosted a NOAA booth at the
American Association of Geographers conference in Washington, DC. Coast Survey interacted with over 250 conference participants, collected roughly 150 student/recent graduate and 10 new university contacts, and provided information on upcoming federal and internship positions available in our office.
Kathleen Jamison, Coast Survey’s resource manager, participated as a career mentor on a panel and then in informal career discussions with about 20 students.
The purpose of the conference is for geographers, GIS specialists, environmental scientists, and other leaders to meet and present the latest research and applications in geography, sustainability, and GIScience. Thank you to
Kathleen Jamison,
John Macek,
Ashley Chappell,
Heather Gilbert,
Kristen Crossett,
Paul Gionis,
Brian Shaw (National Geodetic Survey), and
Jaya Ghosh (U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System), for helping to organize and/or man the booth.
For more information contact
Kathleen.Jamison@noaa.gov.
NOAA stakeholders discuss maritime safety and blue economy with Congress
Rear Adm. Shep Smith, Rear Adm. Timothy Gallaudet (USN,
ret.), Capt. Andrew McGovern, Sean Duffy, Rich Edwing
(director of NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic
Products and Services), and Jeff Payne (acting NOS deputy
assistant administrator).
NOAA Stakeholders, Sean Duffy, executive director of the Big River Coalition, and Capt. Andrew McGovern, president of the New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Association, presented to congressional staffers the importance of NOAA’s real-time data and emergency services and the benefits they have for maritime safety and blue economy. This was NOAA’s second annual Navigation Services All-Interested Congressional Staff Briefing, hosted by the Congressional Ports Opportunity, Renewal, Trade, and Security (PORTS) Caucus. Attendees included staffers from districts in California, Louisiana, Oregon, Maryland, Florida, Texas, and New York. Thank you to
Capt. Liz Kretovic,
Amanda Phelps, and
Christine Burns for helping to coordinate the event. For more information contact
Christine.Burns@noaa.gov.
Interactive sandbox and old printing press draw visitors at NOAA Open House
Allison Wittrock and Martha Bakry demonstrate the interactive
3D sandbox to visitors.
Coast Survey’s 3D sandbox was once again a hit at this year’s NOAA Open House, which took place on Saturday, March 30, in the NOAA Science Center in Silver Spring, MD. Coast Survey volunteers
Lorraine Robidoux,
Allison Wittrock,
Martha Bakry,
Lt. j.g. Patrick Lawler,
Lynne Mersfelder and
Kevin Mackenzie guided visitors through the process of creating mountains and lakes in the sand, while explaining the connection to our multibeam sonar technology. Thanks to
Kristen Crossett,
Noel Dyer,
Christina Belton,
Allison Wittrock, and
Melanie Feliciano for volunteering at the old printing press where they explained the history of chartmaking and helped visitors make origami boats. The open house was a great success! For more information contact
Lorraine.Robidoux@noaa.gov.
Work of NWS Olympic Support Unit at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games to be preserved through NOAA Heritage Program grant
Front page of the Daily Olympic Digest on February 17, 1980.
Congratulations to
John Kelley and partners for being one of 12 selected proposals to receive funding from this year’s
NOAA Heritage Program. Kelley is the project lead for the project titled, “Do You Believe in Miracles? Preserving and highlighting the work of the NWS Olympic Support Unit at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.” During the XIII Olympic Winter Games in February 1980 at Lake Placid, NY, three National Weather Service meteorologists, a state of New York meteorologist, and a college intern provided decision-support weather services to the tens of thousands of people attending, supporting, and participating in the games. This project will preserve the history of this unique on-site Olympic Support Unit through a special exhibit in 2020 at the Lake Placid Olympic Museum, the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Games. Visitors will hear oral histories from the three living meteorologists and the intern – including how their office initially had no phones, windows, door, furniture, electricity, or heat, view original artifacts from the forecast team, and learn how weather impacted the games. For more information contact
John.Kelley@noaa.gov.
NOAA Ships and Contractor Operations
Weekly Hydro Ship Activity Report - Week of March 10 - March 16, 2019
Navigation Response Teams
All NRTs are in their respective homeports performing maintenance.
Bay Hydro II is alongside undergoing annual/routine maintenance and planning a contracted repair period. All team members are attending the Navigation Response Branch meeting in St. Petersburg, FL, this week.
Staff Updates
Vanessa Russell
Coast Survey Navigation Services Division welcomes
Vanessa Russell to the federal workforce. Vanessa will be graduating from the University of Maryland in May 2019 with a bachelors in business administration and a minor in Middle Eastern infrastructure. Vanessa is an experienced government employee with executive level support, government contracts preparation assistance, and travel experience.
