In this issue:  Improved Model Access | Board Election Results | Mini Proposals Awarded | SECOORA Annual Meeting | OSB Meeting | BOB Update | Rutgers Education and Outreach Announcement | RFPs of Interest | Job Announcements | Coming Events

Improved Web Interface to Serve SABGOM Circulation Model Predictions

Ruoying He and his team of researchers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) have been working hard to increase the accessibility to their South Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Mexico (SABGOM) Coastal Circulation Nowcast/Forecast Model.  NCSU recently released an updated site (http://omgsrv1.meas.ncsu.edu:8080/ocean-circulation/) that allows users to interact with the model predictions in a Google Map framework.  Users can visualize simulated ocean circulation fields at different depths (surface to -2000m) with just a couple of clicks; sample temperature, salinity and velocity fields along a user-defined transect; sample temperature & salinity profiles; and compute 72-hr particle trajectory forecast.  He says, "This new web site has provided a much more user-friendly model interface to better serve the community."  It is anticipated that these updates will help scientists to determine where to deploy observational assets, facilitate coastal managers monitoring the ocean environment, and help the Coast Guard in their Search and Rescue work.

Board Election Results

Congrats to SECOORA's newest Board Member Jyotika Virmani, Associate Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography. Jyotika fills Sandra Vargo's vacated seat and was elected at the Board meeting held March 24, 2011.

SECOORA Mini-Proposals Awarded   

Congratulations to the following SECOORA mini-proposal awardees.  After a thorough review, these two proposals were chosen to receive funds available to support SECOORA product development efforts.   

Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program (APNEP) Grant Received for BOB Deployment in the Albemarle-Pamlico Region

Submitted by Terri Kirby Hathaway, Marine Education Specialist, North Carolina Sea Grant

A team of educators from the University of North Carolina's Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (MNMS), and North Carolina Sea Grant (NCSG) received a $25,000 grant from the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program (APNEP) to work with four schools to deploy Basic Observation Buoys (BOBs) this spring.

Columbia High School in Tyrrell County will deploy a BOB in Bull's Bay on the south side of the Albemarle Sound.  The BOB monitored by Pasquotank High School and Elizabeth City Middle School in Pasquotank County will collect data from the Pasquotank River on the north side of the Albemarle Sound.

Mattamuskeet High School in Hyde County will monitor the water quality on the west side of the Pamlico Sound around the Swan Quarter National Wildlife Refuge.  The east side of the Pamlico will be monitored by Cape Hatteras Secondary School of Coastal Studies in Dare County.

Although the exact sampling protocol has not been decided, our hope is for the BOBs to be deployed for one week, then retrieved, cleaned, and calibrated the next week.  The BOBs will then be re-deployed the following week.  The data will be uploaded through the BOB data portal on the SECOORA web site.  Schools will have access to all the data throughout the BOB Network and can compare and contrast the water parameters from any or all sites.  Specifically, they will be able to compare data from the opposite sides of the large water bodies that make up much of northeastern North Carolina.

Please contact Terri Kirby Hathaway for more information.

The Consortium for Ocean Leadership announced Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, will join the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) to build a variety of software interfaces and web-based tools that ultimately will allow educators to bring the ocean into their learning environments.  As the Education and Public Engagement (EPE) Implementing Organization (IO), Rutgers will lead the development of educational capabilities for the OOI and leverage the system's cyberinfrastructure capabilities by constructing a series of software and web-based social networking tools to engage a wide range of users including faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, informal science educators and the general public. The software will be designed to provide science educators with a suite of tools allowing them to enhance their graduate and undergraduate education activities and engage the general public using ocean observation data from the OOI.   View the full press release.

OOI RFP for Dissolved Oxygen

Ocean Leadership has just released its RFP for Dissolved Oxygen and Dissolved Nitrate Instruments on Fixed Platforms as part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative. The RFP and related documents can be found on the Ocean Leadership website.  Please refer to the posted RFP and related documents for specific information regarding important deadlines, points-of-contact, the bidders conference and other technical details.

Mid-Atlantic Sea Level Rise (SLR) & Inundation RFP

On behalf of the Sea Grant programs from New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia,  Virginia Sea Grant released a RFP for research on the socioeconomic impacts and behavior change issues associated with SLR and inundation.  View more information. 

Due Dates:

Letters of Intent: May 2, 2011

Full Proposals: May 23, 2011

2011 NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Solicitations

An interactive table of 2011 NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) solicited research programs, including due dates, is on-line.  Two which may be of particular interest to SECOORA members follow.

PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY:  Focus on ocean circulation, SST and remote sensing 

EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS: Disasters

Data Management Specialist at Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, SC (with Aster Engineering, Inc)

The NOAA Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) is seeking to employ a Database/Information Management Specialist. The specialist will work to develop and maintain various data management systems for HML/NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. Systems include desktop solutions and web applications along with various mapping interfaces.  The full position description is posted online.

Education Curator at NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher

The Aquarium seeks an innovative, dynamic, highly organized individual to become part of their leadership team. The position requires an individual with a history of success in conservation education. The Education Curator provides guidance, leadership, support and supervision for education staff, interns and volunteers. Essential attributes include superb written and oral communication skills, a collaborative spirit, and creativity. The Curator represents the Aquarium with local, state, and federal agencies and departments; serves as an educational resource for the general public, teachers, students, and community stakeholders; facilitates teacher training; develops and evaluates programs, exhibits, and staff.  View the full announcment.

Coming Events 

April 13-14, 2011 Ocean Pollution: From Technology to Management and Policy, Sarasota, FL

April 27-28, 2011 IOOS RA DMAC Workshop,  Silver Spring, MD

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, Jacksonville, FL

June 8-9, 2011 Northeast Coastal and Ocean Data Partnership Annual Meeting and Metadata Workshop, Rye, NH

July 17-21, 2011 Coastal Zone 2011, Chicago, IL

October 19-21, 2011 American Shore & Beach Preservation Association conference, New Orleans, LA 

November 14-17, 2011 NFRA/IOOS Regional Coordination Workshop, New England