In this issue:  NFRA Meetings | IOOS Z-Gram | SECOORA Annual Meeting | NOAA News | NOP Seeks Comments on Strategic Action Plans | Conference and Workshop Updates | Coming Events

NFRA Meeting and Hill Visits

SECOORA representatives including Debra Hernandez, Megan Treml, Harvey Seim (UNC), and Dick Dodge (Nova) will be attending the NFRA Spring meeting to be held February 9, 2011.  The agenda includes a NFRA Board meeting, a discussion with Zdenka Willis, and a session on linking Regional Gap Analyses with IOOS Office efforts.  This meeting will be followed by visits with key legislators in the region to increase awareness of SECOORA and the many activities we have ongoing. 

Bi-Weekly IOOS® Z-GRAM 

The January 28th IOOS Z-Gram is chock full of interesting information about what is happening at the National level as well as the Regional Associations.  Check it out!

SECOORA Annual Meeting

SECOORA's 2011 Annual Meeting will be held May 16-17, 2011 in Jacksonville, FL.  The DMCC will meet following the Annual Meeting on May 18th.  More details on hotels and meeting locations are coming soon.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news!

New Assistant Administrator for the NOAA Ocean Service

David Kennedy  was recently named as the assistant administrator of the National Ocean Service (NOS).

David has served NOAA and the nation exceptionally well throughout his career, especially over the past nine months as the agency's response coordinator for the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. His broad experience and straightforward leadership style are indispensable in the face of today's challenges in the ocean and coastal environment.

Since January 2010, David has been leading NOS in an acting capacity. In this role, he has been particularly effective in aligning NOS activities with Department of Commerce priorities, NOAA's Next Generation Strategic Plan, and NOAA's Annual Guidance Memorandum.

A 22-year NOAA career employee, David previously led NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM). He successfully directed OCRM's activities in areas such as coastal zone management, estuarine research reserves, marine protected areas, coral reef conservation, and coastal and estuarine land conservation.

Prior to that, David led NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), where he directed a multi-disciplinary program to reduce risks to coastal and marine resources from environmental threats. In all, he has coordinated federal scientific response to more than 100 oil and chemical spill incidents.

NOAA FY12 2010 Budget Briefing 

February 16th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the Department of Commerce Auditorium, Dr. Lubchenco, Department of Commerce Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere/NOAA Administrator, will host a briefing on the President's fiscal year 2012 NOAA Budget Request.  NOAA senior leaders will join Dr. Lubchenco to answer questions and respond to comments. 

For those who will need to phone in, a toll-free teleconference number has been set up.  Dial:  1-888-324-7537.  The verbal passcode to provide to the operator is "NOAA Budget."  If you will attend in person, please click this link to RSVP.  If you plan to phone in, please send a note to External.Affairs@noaa.gov so that NOAA can be sure to supply an adequate number of open lines.

The National Ocean Council is seeking public input on the development of strategic action plans for the nine priority objectives described in the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. These nine objectives seek to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.

On July 19, 2010, President Obama signed Executive Order 13547 establishing a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes. That Executive Order adopts the Final Recommendations and directs Federal agencies to take the appropriate steps to implement them.

To submit your comments, please visit the National Ocean Council website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans/sap, and to learn more about the National Ocean Council, please visit:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans.

Florida Oceans Day 2011

Save the date for Florida Oceans Day 2011 to be held in Tallahassee, March 22, 2011.

More information here!

OneNOAA Science Seminars

Dr. Michael S. Bruno (Dean Charles V. Schaefer Jr. School of Engineering and Science, Stevens Institute of Technology) and MACOORA will be giving a NOAA Seminar on 

February 23, 2011; 11:00-12:00 ETZ on: "Coastal Hazards, Climate Change and Developed Coastlines:  The Need for Coastal Ocean Observing."  Visit the

OneNOAA Science Discussion Seminar Series Web site for more information.

February 9-11, 2011 NFRA Spring Board Meeting, Washington, D.C.

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

February 28-March 3, 2011 Coastal Program Managers' Meeting, Washington, D.C.

March 21-24, 2011 GeoTools Conference, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

March 22, 2011  Florida Oceans Day, Tallahassee, FL

May 3-5, 2011 Applying Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning as a Tool to Site Offshore Renewable Energy & other Future Uses Workshop, Narragansett, Rhode Island 

May 16-18, 2011 SECOORA Annual Meeting and DMCC Meeting