SECOORA's Annual Meetings will be held May 7-9, 2012 at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS).  The planning is well underway and includes panel discussions, a SECOORA Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System (RCOOS) principal investigator (PI) meeting, a field trip, and an evening social.

• Meeting Registration is now open! Register today.
• A block of rooms is being held at the Mayfair Hotel, 3000 Florida Avenue Miami, Florida 33133. For reservations please call 1.800.433.4555 by April 9, 2012 and ask for the SECOORA rate ($125/night).

Please see the dates below for specific meeting times and mark your calendars accordingly! 
 
Monday, May 7th from 3-5pm:  Closed SECOORA Board meeting.  The Board of Directors should plan to arrive Monday, May 7th by 3pm.
 
Tuesday, May 8th from 8am-5pm:  Members and Stakeholders Meetings.  The meetings will be followed by an evening social at RSMAS.

Wednesday, May 9th from 8am-12pm:  Coordinated SECOORA RCOOS PI meeting.  

SECOORA Receives Funding from Governors' South Atlantic Alliance through a $1.06M NOAA Grant
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced Regional Ocean Partnership funding for two Governors' South Atlantic Alliance (Alliance) initiatives that will support the coordinated efforts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to develop a multi-state framework for planning activities in the region's coastal and ocean areas. Federal funding will support ocean data-gathering and analyses for hazards resiliency and coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP), and the continuation of the development and organization of the Alliance. The combined award of $1,062,431 million will be administered by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, on behalf of the Alliance, over an 18-month period beginning January 1, 2012.  The Alliance will be working over the next 12-18 months with a number of partners, including SECOORA and the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, to begin the design of a multi-state and regional framework for coastal and ocean planning and decision-making.  Read the press release.
 
SECOORA and our partners on the project who include Duke University, NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, SC Department of Health & Environmental Control Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, GA Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Institute of Technology, and FL Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and University of South Carolina will receive $352,000 from this funding. The team will build a prototype regional information management system to support CMSP and other information management needs of the Alliance. Alliance team members will work with state managers to identify current state and regional data sets and planning tools, assess products and tools against CMSP and decision making needs; develop a multi-state and regional, information management framework; and, develop and provide access to spatial decision support tools for addressing priority multi-scale, multi-sectoral coastal and ocean planning needs.  

Two HF Radar Systems Installed in the Carolinas

NOAA in the Carolinas Conference

NOAA in the Carolinas will host a conference for NOAA offices, NOAA affiliates and interested stakeholders from March 15-16, 2012 at Fort Johnson, Charleston, SC. There will be a dual meeting theme: Water Resources and Resiliency. These two topics can be broadly applied across both North Carolina and South Carolina, and as such both themes will have inland and coastal implications. Keep checking in at the NOAA in the Carolinas Web site for more information.  Registration for the meeting will begin during the week of January 16.   

National Ocean Council Releases Draft Implementation Plan

The National Ocean Council has released for public comment the draft National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan, an action plan to address the most pressing challenges facing ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources.  Visit the National Ocean Council Web site to read the plan and learn how to submit comments.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has an immediate opening for a full-time Supervisor VI (Great Bay Research Reserve Supervisor) located in Durham, New Hampshire.  View the details.  Applications are due February 3, 2012.

Coming Events