Program Update: National Oceanographic Partnership Program – February 2012
The National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) office staff attended the 2012 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Salt Lake City, February 20-24. Allison Miller, NOPP Program Specialist, gave a presentation on the NOPP and the importance of building strong ocean science communities and partnerships. NOPP exhibited with the Consortium for Ocean Leadership and the staff had a great time meeting other members of the ocean sciences community; sharing information about Ocean Leadership and NOPP; and learning about other programs, institutions, and people studying ocean sciences all over the world.
The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Partnerships (IWG-OP) met on January 10 and February 14 and began to plan for potential funding opportunities to be released later this year. The group also heard updates from the NSF ArcSEES Program and the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). The IWG-OP’s Biodiversity Ad Hoc Group met on January 26 and elected three new co-chairs: Gabrielle Canonico (NOAA), Jim Price (BOEM), and Woody Turner (NASA). Discussion items included the importance of Biological Data Infrastructure, such as OBIS, and National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) methods for archiving marine mammal observer data. The Federal Renewable Ocean Energy Working Group (FROEWG) met on February 28 and received updates on an Offshore Energy Knowledge Exchange Workshop and on the DOE Wave Resource Assessment Report.
The Interagency Working Group on Facilities and Infrastructure (IWG-FI) met on February 27, and received updates on the Subcommittee on Unmanned Systems (SUS) Interagency Strategy on Unmanned Systems and the implementation of the National Ocean Policy. The SUS met at Ocean Leadership on January 11. The group named two additional co-chairs, Capt. John Adler (NOAA) and Ms. Brenda Mulac (NASA), to serve alongside Mr. Kim Curry from the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy. The SUS writing team continues to make progress on drafting the Interagency Strategy on Unmanned Systems.
Dr. Reg Beach has stepped down from his duties as chair of the Biodiversity Ad Hoc Group, co-chair of the Subcommittee on Unmanned Systems, and member of the IWG-OP and IWG-FI, due to his return to the Office of Naval Research. His dedication and service to these committees has been invaluable and he will be missed.
