Coast Survey Biweekly Newsletter

National Ocean Service representatives attend sessions on racism in Geosciences

Members of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center (CCOM/JHC) and University of New Hampshire’s Center for Ocean Engineering and School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering are participating in the URGE program – Unlearning Racism in GEosciences. URGE is a curriculum of eight, two week sessions, focused on providing tools and resources to help geoscientists develop policies that improve accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace and community. In response to URGE, members of CCOM/JHC and the Center for Ocean Engineering have formed an URGE pod, the Ocean Mapping and Engineering (OME) pod. Led by CCOM/JHC students Liz Weidner and Alexandra Padilla, the pod is made up of graduate students, staff, and faculty, including Andy Armstrong from OCS and Katie Kirk from CO-OPS. As part of URGE activities, the pod explores the demographics of our students, faculty, and invited speaker population, and are working to make this information publicly available. The pod defined a UNH-focused land acknowledgement statement, which may be utilized by researchers from the community when presenting research and ideas for improving the outreach efforts and engagement with local, underrepresented communities. The URGE curriculum continues through the end of the spring semester. For more information contact Andy.Armstrong@noaa.gov.

National Ocean Service participates in Port of the Future Conference

NOAA’s National Ocean Service, Christopher DiVeglio and Quentin Stubbs, Ph.D., presented at the 2021 Port of the Future Virtual Conference on March 16. The presentation was focused on supporting safety and efficiency of U.S. seaports through Precision Marine Navigation and addressed the urgent and immediate issues facing ports of entry, regulators, and associated industries. Topic discussions centered around sustainability and alternative fuels; security challenges and solutions; digitalization and data sharing; decarbonization; and port resiliency. Participants in the conference included corporate leaders, trade/logistics professionals, government officials, and leading researchers, and provided the opportunity to examine an expanding and evolving vision of future ports of entry. For more information contact Quentin.Stubbs@noaa.gov.

Navigation manager participates in William Anderson Fund Spring Workshop

Quentin Stubbs, Ph.D.

Navigation manager, Quentin Stubbs, Ph.D., served as a speaker at the William Anderson Fund Spring Workshop on March 26, hosted by the Texas A&M University’s Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center. His presentation focused on career and educational opportunities within NOAA. He also served as a panelist for a discussion entitled “Navigating the Industry Job Market During the Pandemic.” The William Averette Anderson Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding the number of historically underrepresented professionals in the field of disaster and hazard research, enabling the hazard and disaster field to be reflective of American society. For more information contact Quentin.Stubbs@noaa.gov.

NOAA Ships and Contractor Operations

Weekly Hydro Ship Activity Report - Week of March 28 - April 3, 2021

Navigation Response Team Activities

NRT-Fernandina and NRT-Seattle have both successfully reintegrated after their COVID operational pauses, and have accumulated five sea days between them. We acknowledge that this is a modest beginning, but we expect to accomplish great things in 2021.

Staff Updates

Megan Greenaway

Megan Greenaway, technical advisor to Hydrographic Surveys Division, will start a six month detail with the National Ocean Service (NOS) as the Fleet Team Lead on April 7. Megan is taking over managing fleet issues for CAPT Ben Evans, as he steps into the Chief of Staff role, while Emily Menashes (current Chief of Staff) is on detail. Megan's duties will include chairing the Fleet Team meetings with representatives from each of the NOS program offices, acting as the lead NOS Fleet Working Group representative, and supporting Dr. Steven Thur – NOS' Fleet Council Representative – in all fleet matters. Congratulations Megan!

Nathan Leveling and Guillaume Auclert

Nathan Leveling will be the next team chair of Marine Chart Division’s ENC rescheme team, starting in mid-April. Nathan is a current member of the rescheme team as well as serving as the co-lead of the National Bathymetric Source technical team. Guillaume Auclert has been serving as the team chair since August 2020, and has been invaluable in getting the team up and running by training the team members, creating and revising standard operating procedures and best practices, and coordinating work assignments. A big thanks to Guillaume for all his hard work for the past eight months and to Nate for stepping into the role. For more information contact Allison.Wittrock@noaa.gov.

did you know?

Backscatter title.

NOAA uses sound signals to see the ocean floor? Backscatter is when a signal (like sound waves) reflects back toward its origin. By analyzing the strength of the reflected signal, researchers can estimate the materials the signal encountered. Harder bottom types, like rock, reflect more sound than softer materials, like mud.

coming up

4/13-4/16 – NOAA General Modeling Meeting and Fair

4/22 – Earth Day

4/28 – IOCM April seminar

6/15 – SOST Coastal Resilience workshop

gis corner

NOAA Esri Central Support – contact for GIS software issues.

OCS GIS Portal & NOAA Geoplatform – data access

NOAA GIS Community – information on GIS projects, software, and geospatial initiatives

ArcGIS StoryMaps – Discover our stories

Submit issues with ArcGIS-based applications to the help desk with the subject line "URGENT - GIS Server Issue."

diversity and inclusion

As we wrap up National Women's History Month last week, I encourage you to check out our Spotlight on Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink. She made strides for women in her law work, setting an example as the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Asian-American woman to serve in Congress. Be sure to check out Spotlight Issue 4.

The OCS D&I Committee is sponsoring the 2021 OCS Spring into Fitness Challenge for the month of April. Divisions will "compete" against each other to earn the most active minutes for a prize of 59 minutes in the first week of May! Entries can be physical exercise such as: bike/spin classes, running, walking, weight lifting, stretching, yoga, yard work, construction, swimming, surfing, martial arts, or rowing/paddling. Entries can also be mental health activities like games, puzzles, meditation, crossword puzzles, Playstation, etc. Track your name, activities, and the time you spent completing that activity using this OCS Exercise Challenge sheet. The challenge is going on now and runs April 1 through April 30.

In light of a rising national trend in violence and discrimination, OCS will be hosting an Open Dialogue Listening Session to create a space for constructive sharing of thoughts, concerns, and ideas about how we can understand, value, and respect our different experiences.
Date and Time:
Tuesday, April 6 at 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. (EST)
Wednesday, April 14 at 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. (EST)
Join the meeting by telephone: (US) +1 929-324-9295‬ PIN: ‪920 882 893‬#

The 28th Annual Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Program, A Chance to Survive, will be held virtually today. The program will feature two Holocaust survivors, Alfred Munzer of the Washington, D.C. area and Max Glauben of Dallas, Texas.
Date and Time: April 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (EST)

NOAA presents Opposing Xenophobia – How to Support the AAPI Community, hosted by Dottie Li, founder and CEO of TransPacific Communications.
Date and Time: Thursday, April 8 at 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. (EST)

NOS updates

NOS News
Wavelengths Newsletter
AA Weekly
NOS Zero Waste Initiative

blog

The Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping announces progress report on mapping U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters

NOAA releases new visualization resources: Precision Navigation Data Gateway and Data Dashboard

New hydrographic surveying matching fund announced

Newsletter Archive

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