NOAA National Ocean Service honors Coast Survey employees

NOAA’s National Ocean Service had a ceremony for its honorees for 2015, and we are so pleased that several Coast Survey employees were recognized for their contributions.

Congratulations to deputy director Katie Ries, who was selected as a 2015 Employee of the Year! This award recognizes significant contributions to NOS programs and the demonstration of exceptional and sustained effort toward the accomplishment of NOS missions. Katie is being honored for many things, chief among them “for being the indefatigable force driving Coast Survey’s crucial improvements in quality management, strategic planning, and employee support.”

Congratulations to Lyon Lanerolle (Coast Survey Development Lab) and Kyle Ward (Navigation Services Division, Southeast navigation manager). They both received a NOS Rafting Award, which recognizes coordination among NOS offices and provides NOS employees the opportunity to express their appreciation to another NOS or NOAA colleague who has helped them in some unique way.

• The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science nominated Lyon for working with the NCCOS/Oxford Lab and the National Weather Service’s Ocean Prediction Center to enable the use of Coast Survey-developed Operational Forecast Systems data to predict the probability of pathogens in various U.S. bays and estuaries.
• The Office of Coastal Management nominated Kyle for his collaboration on ocean mapping projects. The nomination explained that Kyle “has a positive, can-do attitude and is always willing to extend his role as navigation manager,” citing (among other collaborative projects) his willingness to use his AIS expertise for offshore renewable energy projects, his collaboration on establishing new and safer anchorage areas, and his assistance in standing up web map services for regional marine planning.

Congratulations to Shachak Pe’eri (research associate professor at Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping University of New Hampshire) and Teresa Fleisher (Coast Survey Development Lab, administrative assistant), who were selected as NOS Team Members of the Year. This award is presented to members of the workforce who are not NOAA federal employees, for their contributions as recognized by their NOS peers.

• Teresa is recognized for her outstanding achievement in assisting with Coast Survey’s property management. “Teresa went far above the usual effort to help ensure that the inventory was up-to-date and correct, with all items found… Her efforts helped free up additional office space and resources that would not have been available otherwise.”
• Professor Pe’eri is honored for his development of innovative techniques and policies in the use of satellite-derived bathymetry to analyze nautical chart adequacy and the remote determination of water depth for updating NOAA nautical charts; in particular his methods for integrating SDB into Coast Survey’s chart production process.