CNRA posting: 19 Nov 2013 — From West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health
The West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health is pleased to announce the start of a joint fellowship between the West Coast Governors Alliance, the West Coast Regional Associations of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and California Sea Grant to help integrate complex regional ocean observing data into state and regional resource management, policy development, and ocean planning. This fellowship builds off a Memorandum of Understanding between the WCGA and the West Coast Observing Systems which are the Northern Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS) and the Southern California Coastal Observing System (SCCOOS) signed in 2012 to collaborate on ocean health issues like marine debris and ocean acidification.
“Oceanographic observing data are critical to understanding how natural processes and human actions interact to impact ocean health. This fellowship is a further step in bridging the oceanography and public policy communities.” – Julie Thomas, Director, SCCOOS.
Laura Lilly is thrilled to be working as a California Sea Grant Fellow in conjunction with the West Coast Governors Alliance and the three west coast IOOS Regional Associations. She graduated in 2013 with a B.S. and an M.S. from Stanford University’s Earth Systems program, with an undergraduate focus on oceanography and a Master’s focus on Marine Ecosystem Conservation. In conjunction with her Master’s, she researched tuna physiology at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, exploring the effects of long-term temperature acclimation on blood-oxygen binding in tunas. Her past experience has included an internship with NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center tracking oceanographic trends in relation to biological data as part of an Integrated Ecosystem Assessment of the Kona Coast of Hawaii, and a GIS mapping project with a coastal fisheries management NGO in La Paz, Baja California Sur.
Laura will be working from the SCCOOS office in La Jolla, CA and will focus on developing products and processes to integrate oceanographic data needed for addressing pressing West Coast ocean health issues such as marine debris and ocean acidification. She will work with State ocean acidification science panels and the WCGA Marine Debris Action Coordination team to understand the oceanographic data needs and develop products tailored to meet those needs. The data products will be made available through the West Coast OOS sites, WCGA, and state data portals for wide dissemination.
If you wish to learn more or contribute your data to the Portal, please contact Todd Hallenbeck (Todd.r.hallenbeck@Westcoastoceans.org).
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Kim McIntyre | Coordinator
West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health
Phone: (858) 754-8826