As the end of another fruitful year draws near, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of coastal and ocean observing in the Southeast. In these times of tough budgets and hard decisions, we are thankful to have a network of supporters who realize the value that SECOORA and its members provide to those who live, work, and play on the coast of the Southeast. This has been a very successful year for our organization.

• SECOORA was awarded our first direct federal grant with the award of $2.015 Million from NOAA for the continued operation of the organization, which partially funds 28 coastal and moored stations, 11 High Frequency Radar systems, regional and subregional modeling efforts, data management and integration, and education and outreach elements. This is just the first year of funding in a five year award cycle.
• SECOORA completed our second successful mini-grant process, resulting in two awards to support product development efforts.   These efforts are: Novel Ocean Color Products for Eddy Tracking and Water Quality Monitoring (Principal Investigators: Chuanmin Hu, University of South Florida with Brock Murch, University of South Florida, Computer Programmer) and Implementation of Automated Water Quality Advisory Forecast Models for Southeastern US Swimming Beaches (Principal Investigators: Dr. Dwayne E. Porter, University of South Carolina and Dr. Heath Kelsey, University of Maryland)
• We hosted two successful meetings in May 2011 and September 2011, both of which engaged stakeholders and provided SECOORA's members an opportunity to network and learn from one another.
• After many months of work, SECOORA submitted a Build Out Plan to the U.S. IOOS Office. This plan represents the vision for observing in the Southeast for the next ten years and includes coordination with the Gulf Coast region and integration of the needs of our stakeholders. We view this plan as Version 1.0, and work is already underway via SECOORA's Science Committee to further define requirements for products and assets.
• SECOORA participated in many national and regional level efforts including being a member of the Executive Committee of NFRA (National Federation of Regional Associations for Coastal and Ocean Observing), the IOOS Data Management and Communications team, the planning team for Oceans 2012, the Executive Planning Team of the South Atlantic Alliance, and the planning team for the Southeast Coastal Wind Conference.
• We welcomed new members Florida International University School of Environment, Arts and Society; Rick Cole from RDSea International; University of Central Florida; and University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health.
• We welcomed new staff to our team. Vembu Subramanian joined as RCOOS manager in May. Megan Lee joins SECOORA full time in January 2012 as a Business Manager, and Chiaki Kight joined as a part time bookkeeper in November 2011. These new members provide invaluable experience to the SECOORA team.

These accomplishments highlight the strong partnerships SECOORA has with our members, stakeholders, federal partners, regional collaborators and others. IOOS is a partnership and requires the work and commitment of all involved. We look forward to our continued partnership over the next year as we focus on diversifying our funding sources and developing stronger relationships with federal agencies and regional organizations in the Southeast.

 

We wish you a happy holiday season and wonderful new year.

 

On behalf of the SECOORA staff and contractors,

 

Sincerely,

 

Debra Hernandez,  Executive Director