From the President’s Office – 5/22/09
Filed under: About,From The President's Office,News & Resources
On Wednesday evening I served as Master of Ceremonies for the Friends of NOAA cocktail reception on Capitol Hill welcoming Jane Lubchenco as the new Administrator of NOAA. Over 150 people attended, including 45 representatives from 24 organizations who were joined by senior administrators from NOAA, White House officials, nine Members of Congress and many senior congressional staff. We were fortunate to have Admiral Watkins present the opening remarks welcoming Jane. He was followed by comments from a number of Members of Congress, and Jane speaking of her new role and vision for the agency.
The evening was very successful, most notably for broad participation and support by the entirety of the NOAA atmospheric and oceanic stakeholder communities. The participation of White House officials from OMB, CEQ, and OSTP, including John Holdren, the President’s science advisor, further elevated the importance of the event, which provided NOAA, and Jane, with a high level of visibility and support on Capitol Hill. Ocean Leadership continues to play a central role in helping guide the activities of the Friends of NOAA. For more information about the Friends of NOAA visit their web site, www.friendsofnoaa.org.
On the science programmatic front, last week the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation authorized NSF Director Arden Bement to make awards toward the construction of the Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI). We are excited by the NSB endorsement of this innovative ocean observing infrastructure, as it represents the final step in several years of planning and investment by the ocean sciences community and the National Science Foundation. I feel that the OOI is a bold and transformative step forward in documenting changes in ocean processes and phenomena at many locations on a variety of time scales
Next week Ocean Leadership will host our Board of Trustees and Members Meetings here in Washington. We have also planned visits to Capital Hill to discuss the science aspects of the President’s 2010 budget. It will be very busy in our offices, but I always value the time that our Board and Member Representatives give us and the energy and passion that they have for our organization and our mission. It will be an exciting week. Have a restful, enjoyable and safe holiday weekend.
