Scientists have just returned from an expedition onboard the research vessel JOIDES Resolution, during which they recovered five kilometers of core samples from an area never before drilled.

The staff here at Ocean Leadership works hard to make certain that each week we provide you with the most useful and timely information regarding our efforts, activities of the community, news from Capitol Hill, and all opportunities, jobs and internships that we feel you might find beneficial.

The possible reorganization of federal agencies has been a hot topic here in Washington this week. Moving the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from the Commerce Department to the Interior Department is among one of President Obama’s proposals.

Animal welfare advocates are perplexed by dozens of dolphins swimming onto land along the scenic Cape Cod shores south of Boston beginning late last week, one of the largest cases of dolphins stranding themselves in years.

The first comprehensive study of changes in the oxygenation of oceans at the end of the last Ice Age (between about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago) has implications for the future of our oceans under global warming.

Governor Bob McDonnell and the Science Museum of Virginia have named Chancellor professor John Milliman of the College of William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science as one of Virginia’s Outstanding Scientists for 2012.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began the Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program (now called Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program) in 2001 in honor of Walter C. Mendenhall, the fifth Director of the USGS.

The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University seeks a Postdoctoral Research Scientist to participate in a Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative-funded study of the influence of natural oil and gas seeps on the pelagic ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences (www.whitney.ufl.edu) at the University of Florida seeks a new Director to succeed Dr. Peter Anderson, who has indicated his intention to step down from the directorship at the end of this fiscal year.

NOAA has chosen Dr. Robert Detrick as the Assistant Administrator for NOAA Research, Acting Chair of the NOAA Research Council and NOAA Climate Goal Lead. We’re looking forward to his official start on February 13, 2012.

It’s 1963. The escalating arms race and the horrific power of nuclear bombs cause world leaders to sign the Limited Test Ban Treaty, prohibiting weapons testing in the atmosphere and in the ocean.

Like most of you, this week I have been continuing to play catch-up after the holiday break, as well as preparing for several major events that are on the horizon.