February 15, 2017
Hello Coast Survey,
I asked our deputy director, Katie Ries, to take up the pen this week while I am on travel.
-Shep
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone,
You may have noticed that our director has been out of the office quite a bit these past few months. Building relationships with our many partners and educating Congressional committees, members of Congress, and their staffs about the important work Coast Survey does is not a quick or simple task.
RDML Smith recently traveled to Mississippi and met with staff from Representative Palazzo, Senator Cochran, and Senator Wicker’s offices. As a follow-up to those regional meetings, he was invited to brief their corresponding staff on the Hill along with Rachel Medley, our deputy hydrographer. While there, RDML Smith met with Representative Palazzo and his chief of staff, Senator Cochran’s chief of staff, and Senator Wicker’s chief of staff to discuss homeporting of a navigation response team at Stennis, unmanned systems, and the fleet recapitalization plan.
Communicating Coast Survey’s vital mission to the nation does not end with Congress. I had the pleasure of sitting in on some of the meetings with the navigation managers that were in town last week. The nav managers are primary conduits to our customers and they do a great job building and sustaining relationships with them and communicating our messages regionally.
Thank you for all your hard work on behalf of Coast Survey,
Katie
Katie Ries
Deputy Director
Erica Towle is joining Coast Survey staff following her 2016 NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship. Erica served on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, Majority Staff. Prior to her Knauss fellowship, Erica earned a PhD in marine biology from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School. Erica will be working with Rachel Medley on legislative engagement and Kathleen Jamison on RMS budget formulation and strategic planning.
Jim Burkitt recently joined Hydrographic Surveys Division's Atlantic Hydrographic Branch as an ERT contractor. Jim most recently worked for at the Research Cooperation University of Hawaii and previously as a survey tech on the NOAA Ships Ron Brown, Reuben Lasker, and Henry Bigelow. He has a BA from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a MS in Biology from Georgian Court University in Lakewood, New Jersey.
Summer Internship Program at Coast Survey
This summer Coast Survey is partnering with the National Park Service and the 3rd party non-profit Greening Youth Foundation for a 10 week Marine Geography Summer Internship Program linking college students and recent graduates with internship positions in science, technology, engineering, and math across the country.
The program is part of a new pilot diversity internship program designed to provide meaningful and relevant science based internships to individuals from underrepresented groups, which will introduce program participants to careers within NOAA and Coast Survey while increasing diversity in the NOAA workplace.
Coast Survey has four open positions in HSD, MCD and NSD and interns will be located in headquarters in Silver Spring, MD and in Fernandina Beach, Florida, on NRT 2. The program runs from June 5 - August 4 with a workshop and Career Week from August 6 - 10 where NOAA will combine with the NPS program and students will present their projects and talk to OPM about recruitment and placement within Federal Agencies.
The weeks in between, the interns will be paid via a third party to work full time, and housing will be arranged for and covered by them as well. The advertisement is currently open on the Greening Youth Foundation's career website until February 27.
Below are the links for the Coast Survey position postings found on the Greening Youth Foundation recruiting site:
- Source Area of Interest Intern
- Survey Priorities Communication Strategist Intern
- Hydrographic Assistant Survey Technician Intern
- Nautical Chart Adequacy Intern
For more information on the internship positions or program, please contact Paul Turner (paul.turner@noaa.gov).
Combined Federal Campaign
One final thank you to all who participated in CFC this year. Here are our results:
Coast Survey headquarters raised $17,222.
Coast Survey at the Pacific Hydrographic Branch raised $6,482, Wow!
Coast Survey at the Atlantic Hydrographic Branch (+ others on campus) raised $7,396.
A special thank you to our keyworkers and everyone that helped with CFC events:
Staff - Kristen Crossett
NSD - Laura Jeffery
HSD - Megan Greenaway
MCD - Rolland Gant and Brian Hensel
CSDL - MaryLouise Kurchock
Saturday, February 11, marked the 210th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson approving an act to survey the coasts of the United States. But what do you know about the legislators who saw the need, wrote the bill, and sent it to the president? Find out more in our blog.
2/16-2/20 - 2017 Miami International Boat Show
2/19-2/26 - U.S. Power Squadrons annual meeting
3/1 - NOS all hands meeting from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EST
