Octoer 28, 2020
Hello Coast Survey,
One of the things that I have been most excited about during my first months as deputy hydrographer is the opportunity to support and participate in the full spectrum of Coast Survey’s mission. This position complements the internal operations responsibilities of the deputy director with an externally facing one that focuses on three principal areas: international, interagency, and legislative engagement.
I must admit that the breadth and reach of Coast Survey’s external activities is awe inspiring and intimidating at the same time. During my short tenure, I have already had the privilege of representing Coast Survey in a number of external engagements as a participant, the Director’s representative, chairman, and frequently as a student. Some of the early highlights for me include a perfectly run Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP) with an engaged professional membership, a U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS) Data Interoperability Roundtable, the Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IWG OCM), and many international engagements with hydrographic offices around the world from the Baltic to Singapore and many in between. Each of these activities support or capitalize on the work that you do, ocean mapping, nautical charting, modeling, information technology and more. I am fortunate to have joined an extremely versatile group of people on the staff and have started working with them on plans to explain, formalize, and hopefully improve our external engagements moving forward.
John NybergDeputy Hydrographer, Office of Coast Survey
As part of the building capacity effort within National Ocean Service (NOS), the “Foundation Four” (F4) offices (Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, National Geodetic Survey and Coast Survey) received funding for training workshops to improve expertise in code programming and management for the NOS Modeling Program and other DevOps activities. The F4 purchased a series of trainings through Software Carpentry for FY21 and held the first workshop on October 5-8, 2020. The goals of the workshop were to enhance foundational skills and learning best practices in software development. The workshop focused on software development and data visualization in Python, and source code version control using GIT from the command line. Scott Sherman, DevOps program manager, helped facilitate the workshop. Coast Survey personnel in attendace included John Doroba, Lt. j.g. Taylor Krabiel, and Ens. Harper Umfress. Overall the workshop was well received and will be offerd at least two more times in the next few months for those that could not attend the first workshop. Next session will probably occur after Thanksgiving. Participants must bring a laptop with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system. For more information, see the notes from the workshop and contact Scott.Sherman@noaa.gov.
Cmdr. Jay Lominicky, chief of the Navigation Response Branch, is scheduled to depart on November 2 to take over as commanding officer of NOAA Ship Fairweather. Lt. Cmdr. Megan Guberski will fill this position starting in January. In the interim, Chris Hare will serve as acting branch chief.
Awards
Congratulations to Lt. j.g. Michelle Levano (Navigation Services Division), for being selected as a 2020 EEO and Diversity Award recipient. Michelle is recognized for her exceptional leadership, vision, and dedication to a diverse and inclusive workforce through the creation of training opportunities and mentorship.
Opportunities
NOAA Mentoring Program is accepting applications for the 2021 program year. The program provides resources for our federal employees from all offices at all levels to connect with mentors, achieve their professional goals, build stronger networks, and enhance their knowledge and skills. Mentors and mentees must sign up by November 6, 2020. If you have any questions contact the mentoring program manager, noaa.mentoring@noaa.gov.
11/11 Veterans Day
11/16 - 11/19 Second Session of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Assembly
11/18 GIS Day 2020
11/19 Fourth Meeting of the IHO Council
11/30 - 12/3 Meso American & Caribbean Sea Hydrographic Commission (MACHC) Meeting
12/3 NOS All Hands/Employee Recognition Meeting from 12:30-3:30 p.m. EST
October is National Disability Awareness Month, "a time to celebrate the contributions of Americans with disabilities to our country's workforce and economic strength. We also reaffirm our commitment to fostering opportunities for Americans of all abilities to apply their skills and talents in the workplace as they pursue their dreams." Learn more about American's living with disabilities
Pride in Federal Service (an alliance of Federal LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Groups) is providing a virtual screening of The Lavender Scare between October 25-31. This 2017 documentary tells the story of the U.S. government's decades long effort to fire gay and lesbian employees. Watch at your leisure and register to join a Q&A discussion with filmmaker, Josh Howard, on Friday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
