SECOORA Weekly News Update

Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing
Regional Association

Weekly News Update June 21, 2010

In This Issue: SECOORA News | Oil Spill Updates | UNOLS Call for Nominations | Coming Events

SECOORA News

Board Conference Call

A SECOORA Board conference call is scheduled for June 28 at 10am. The purposes of this call are for Officer elections and Committee Chair and membership selection and confirmation. An agenda will be distributed soon.

SECOORA at The Coastal Society

Last week, SECOORA staff participated in 22nd International Conference of The Coastal Society in Wilmington, North Carolina. The SECOORA-sponsored panel entitled "Supporting Regional Coastal and Ocean Managers: Linking Observing Tools and Capabilities to the Needs of Managers and Users in the Southeast Region" featured Debra Hernandez, Executive Director of SECOORA, Susan Libes, a professor of marine science and chemistry at Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC, and Dr. Harvey Seim, a Professor of Marine Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill.

We Need Your Help: Letters to FCC

Proposed changes by FCC would effectively shut down the L-band direct broadcast. This would shut down much of the satellite imagery the IOOS community processes and serves to the wider community. This is a period of public comment that ends June 28, 2010. A large response for the upcoming June 28th meeting will help the FCC understand the scope of non-federal users for the broadcast channels.

View the public notice. The FCC comment period closes 6-28-2010. Comments can be submitted here at the FCC Electronic Comments Filing System as full page documents, be sure to list proceeding number 10-123. Please consider submitting a comment.

Oil Spill Updates

News Links

Subcommittee On Insular Affairs, Oceans And Wildlife Oversight Hearing On "Ocean Science And Data Limits In A Time Of Crisis: Do NOAA And The Fish And Wildlife Service (FWS) Have The Resources To Respond?" (Bob Weisberg)

New Sea Grant - South Atlantic Region Oil Spill Site

This regional Web site provides visitors with general information about the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP gives $10 million toward Florida research

BP has granted $10 million to the Florida Institute of Oceanography for research into the oil spill's impacts on the Gulf Coast region. View the Florida Institute of Oceanography RFP - BP Oil Spill.

This is part of a larger effort that BP announced June 15, 2010 to move forward with its half-billion dollar pledge to the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI). Three research institutions in the Gulf region will receive a total of $25 million in fast-track funding for high-priority studies of the distribution, composition and ecological interactions of oil and dispersant.

$5 million to Louisiana State University;

$10 million to the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) hosted by the University of South Florida;

$10 million to the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), a consortium led by Mississippi State University (NGI).

View the BP press release.

UNOLS Call for Nominations

UNOLS Call for Nominations: Ocean Observing Science Committee

UNOLS is seeking nominations for individuals interested in serving on an Ocean Observing Science Committee (OOSC). The OOSC is proposed as a new UNOLS standing committee that, pending UNOLS membership endorsement, will become effective in late October 2010.
For more information, view the call for nominations.

Coming Events

June 23-24 NFRA Executive Committee Meeting, Washington, D.C.

June 28, SECOORA Board Conference Call at 10am

September 27-October 1, 2010 Ninth Conference on Coastal Atmospheric and Oceanic Prediction and Processes, Annapolis, Maryland

October 4-7, 2010 NOAA's 35th Climate Diagnostics and Prediction Workshop, Raleigh, NC

October 12, 2010 NFRA Board Meeting, Washington, D.C.

October 13-14, 2010 IOOS Regional Coordination Workshop, Washington, D.C.

November 3-5, 2010 Sustainable Ocean Energy & the Marine Environment, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

November 13-17, 2010 Restore America's Estuaries, Galveston Island, TX Poster Deadline Extended to April 2

February 13-18, 2011 ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Send us your news!

If you have news to contribute, email [email protected]. Examples of newsworthy items include upcoming meetings, employment opportunity announcements, and major project news.

Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association
Are you interested in ocean observations, ecosystem management, marine operations, or coastal hazards? Then you should know about SECOORA, the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association. SECOORA is the regional solution to integrating coastal and ocean observing in the Southeast United States. Commitment to ocean observing technologies in our region is critical. Your input, guidance, support, and membership will insure that SECOORA continues to develop the products and services that you need. Join SECOORA and be a part of the Southeast's future. Contact Executive Director Debra Hernandez ([email protected]) for more information.