The final agenda is now available.  

 

Information for participating in the SECOORA Annual meeting May 11 & 12 via web broadcast is available here.  

 

The SECOORA DMCC will have a full-throttle 1.5 day sprint June 2-3 at the Public Health Research Center, USC.  The group plans to address large issues, such as codifying SECOORA's core data management capacity, as well as specific issues, such as detailing the specifications for a fisheries buoy alert application, a cruise scheduling application, and the asset inventory application.  The DMAC will lead a session on the afternoon of the first day where we will invite members from the DMCC and DMAC to phone in to take part in prioritizing SECOORA's activities for year 3 and beyond, e.g. product / application development in a biological & habit context; remotely-sensed-based applications; HF radar-based applications; educational, ecosystem, marine operations, coastal hazards, and climate change products.  Noticing a products-oriented theme?  That's precisely the DMCC's intent.  But we need to prioritize this unwieldy list.  The meeting is going to focus on approaching resource allocation and coordination in a products-oriented context from a practical point-of-view.  It's a lofty goal but an achievable one.  If you are approached to be a part of the phone-in session, please consider joining us to make sure that your specific needs and ideas are heard.  Contact Charlton Galvarino (charlton@2creek.com) for more information.
 

SECOORA Member Institution Selected by NASA for Grant Award
Pelagic Sargassum spp. provides important habitat (food, shade, shelter) to fish, shrimp, crabs, turtles, and other marine organisms. The macroalgae can also cause nuisance beach accumulations. Our knowledge on Sargassum abundance/distributions and their future trend is limited. Chuanmin Hu, from the University of South Florida, in partnership with Texas A&M University at Galveston, FL Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Florida Atlantic University was recently selected by NASA under its Gulf of Mexico Program to conduct a project entitled " Mapping and Forecasting of Pelagic Sargassum Drift Habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Bight for Decision Support" to fill some of these knowledge gaps. Using the most recent advances in both technology and algorithm development in NASA satellite remote sensing, the project proposes to generate a suite of Sargassum data products and use these products to help make decisions on the harvesting, research, and beach management related to Sargassum around the Gulf of Mexico.

 

EXTENDED Abstract Deadline (May 31, 2010) for "Renewable Ocean Energy & the Marine Environment" Conference
Please consider submitting an abstract. We would love to see a strong SECOORA presence at this major conference! SECOORA is a major sponsor and will be heavily involved in the planning. Please note, the abstract deadline has been extended to May 31, 2010.
 
The conference is hosted by Center for Ocean Energy Technology at Florida Atlantic University.  To be held November 3-5, 2010 at the PGA National Resort, Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.  
 
Link to Conference Web Site:  
http://www.ces.fau.edu/conferences/coet