The Latest from SECOORA
July 5, 2011
Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association

In this issue:  Seeking Nominations for Board Officers | Build Out Planning | SECOORA/SAA Meeting | NOAA in the Carolinas Spotlight | New FLCOOS Chair | GCOOS Newsletter| Northeast Data Portal | NOAA at CMSP Forum | New CDMO Query System | RFPs of Interest | Job Announcements | Coming Events

SECOORA News

Board Members: Nominations Open for Board Officers

Nominations are now open for SECOORA Board Officers.  Since the current officer holders have all reached their term limits, someone new is needed in each position.  The nomination and election process is described in detail on our webpage. Please note that SECOORA Board members are requested to submit nominations by July 11 at noon so that materials can be forwarded to all Board members prior to the Board meeting on July 14 at 10AM.
 

Build Out Planning

The first call of the ad hoc Build Out Plan (BOP) committee was held on June 24 to discuss our process for getting the plan written.  SECOORA staff will be developing the initial drafts of each section.  Committee members are dividing into small teams to work on components of the plan following the templates developed by NFRA and the IOOS office.  The first draft of the plan is due to the IOOS office at the end of August. 
 

SECOORA/SAA Meeting 

Save the date for a joint SECOORA Board and Governor's South Atlantic Alliance meeting September 7-9 in Savannah, GA. Room registration for the meeting is now open.  The reservation group code is SCO and the cutoff date to make reservations under this group to receive the group rate is August 8, 2011. Attendees can make reservations by calling the hotel at 912-232-9000 or 1-877-280-0751, or by visiting www.desotohilton.com and entering the Group/Convention Code: SCO.


There will be an oyster roast and Lowcountry boil for all participants the evening of September 7 at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. The afternoons of September 7th and 8th will be separate organizational meetings, and the joint meeting will be held the morning of September 8th. Registration for the meeting itself will be open late this week, and an email with details forthcoming.  If you have any questions, please contact Susannah Sheldon ([email protected]).

 

NOAA in the Carolinas Web Site Spotlights SECOORA

NOAA in the Carolinas, a grassroots OneNOAA effort that works across agency lines and disciplines to enhance NOAA's value to and impact on the region, is spotlighting SECOORA on their Web site this month.  Thanks to Jen Dorton (UNC-W) for making this happen!

 

SECOORA DMCC Member in the IOOS Z-Gram

IOOS NCCOS Project - Water Quality Data Management: IOOS staff, Derrick and Rob, met with Oren Perez (National Center for Coastal Ocean Science) to discuss the first tasks in the project and evaluate the existing SOS implementation at University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).  Doug Pirhalla and Oren will convey issues found with the UNCW SOS and differences between the schema they are employing and the IOOS specification to the UNCW Programmer Xiaoyan Qi.  Matters of data transfer between Florida International University and UNCW and metadata file requirements to complete development of the SensorML file were covered as part of the first three tasks in phase 2.

Other News of Interest

FLCOOS Announces New Chair

Mitchell A.  Roffer (President, Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, Inc.), SECOORA member and current Secretary of our Executive Committee, has been named the Chair of the Florida Coastal Ocean Observing System (FLCOOS).  This development will allow for increased coordination among SECOORA, FLCOOS, and GCOOS who have been working closely in recent months to ensure consistent messaging to stakeholders.

 

GCOOS News Launched

GCOOS, the Gulf of Mexico regional component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), has launched a "GCOOS News and Updates" newsletter.  Please email Laura Caldwell ([email protected]) to be added to the distribution list.  

 

Articles of Interest: 

 

Northeast Regional Ocean Council Launches the Northeast Ocean Data Portal

The data, map viewer, and other tools included with the Northeast Ocean Data Portal  are the result of over a year's worth of extensive effort of multiple organizations with data development experience including the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership, Northeast Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems, The Nature Conservancy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and Applied Science Associates.  Developed to enhance regional ocean planning efforts, the new Northeast Ocean Data Portal  contains regional spatial data on human activities, natural resources, and jurisdictional information for New England's coasts and ocean waters.

 

Senior NOAA Official To Engage Ocean Business Community On Marine Spatial Planning

NOAA Policy Director, Sally Yozell, will participate in the first-ever National Business Forum on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), on behalf of Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Undersecretary of Commerce and NOAA Administrator.  The National Business Forum on MSP (13-14 July, Washington, D.C.) is for businesses that care about their future use of marine space and resources. The Forum is the only event that brings the ocean business community together to develop a strategy to address common concerns about MSP.  Learn more.

 

NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System Centralized Data Management Office (CDMO) Launches Advanced Query System

The CDMO's new Advanced Query System (AQS) is available for end users!  It specializes in delivering large amounts of data and complex queries in a single download. The AQS offers three different query options allowing for mass downloads of annual files, customized queries for specific parameters and multiple stations in the same file, and an option to merge water quality, meteorological and nutrient datasets.  The AQS is located on the CDMO's website under the "View/Download Data" selection or can be accessed directly with the following links:  http://cdmo.baruch.sc.edu/aqs or  www.nerrsdata.org/aqs.

 

Save the Date  

The MTS/IEEE Oceans 2012 conference will be held at the VA Beach Convention Center October 14-19 2012.

RFPs of Interest

EPA Grant Announcement: Research and Demonstration of Innovative Drinking Water Treatment Technologies in Small Systems

EPA has a competitive grant for projects addressing the high-priority research and demonstration area  of safe and sustainable drinking water systems. View the announcement.

Job Announcements

Teledyne RDI  Positions

Teledyne RDI has a variety of immediate employment opportunities for enthusiastic, forward-thinking professionals. Employees enjoy a challenging and rewarding work environment, with significant opportunities for career advancement, as well as time to enjoy the legendary Southern California sunshine and laid back San Diego vibe. 

They are currently seeking Systems Engineers, Manufacturing, Quality Engineers, Software Engineers, and Transducer Engineer.  For nearly 30 years, Teledyne RD Instruments has been the industry's leading manufacturer of acoustic Doppler products for a wide array of underwater applications. Their products are used around the globe to obtain critical current, wave and precision navigation data for scientists, engineers and water resources professionals.  Visit  www.rdinstruments.com/careers to learn more about these openings

 

Coming Events 

 

July 13-14, 2011 National Business Forum On Marine Spatial Planning, Washington D.C.

 

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

 

July 27, 2011 SC Renewable Energy Forum, Columbia, SC

 

August 8th -12th, 2011 Cyberinfrastructure Summer Institute for Geoscientists  (CSIG'11), San Diego, CA

 

September 7-9, 2011 Joint SECOORA/SAA Meeting, Savannah, GA

 

September 19-22, 2011 OCEANS '11 MTS/IEEE,  Kona, Hawai'i 

 

September 24, 2011 National Estuaries Day

 

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

 

November 4-7, 2011 NRDA for the Gulf: Improving Our Ability to Quantify Chronic Damages, Baltimore, MD
 

November 7-9, 2011 Using Modeling to Solve Engineering and Environmental Assessment Problems, St. Augustine, Florida

 

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

 

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.
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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.
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