NOPP Program Update: January 2017

This month was a busy period for the NOPP Office, with activities ramping up to meet the opportunities of the New Year.

This month, we were privileged to support:

  1. Ocean Research Advisory Panel (ORAP) teleconference webinar. The panel continued its discussions on developing ocean policy priorities for the new administration, as well as continuing tasking discussions;
  2. Interagency Working Group on Facilities and Infrastructure (IWG-FI) meeting, which continued its tracking of the Federal science fleet, focusing discussions on how to keep up with global efforts of vessel modernization and infrastructure investments;
  3. Biodiversity Ad Hoc meeting, covering topics from NOAA’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP), to the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), to CORAL NASA airborne campaigns; and
  4. The NOPP Committee January meeting revolved mainly around finalizing the discussions of potential goals of future projects and specifying text on this year’s Broad Agency Announcements (BAA).

Scuba diver, with NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, surveys bleached corals in the U.S. Virgin Islands. [Image Credit: NOAA, Michelle Johnston]
The NOPP Office attended the Joint Ocean Science and Technology/ Ocean Resource Management Interagency Policy Committee (OST/ORM-IPC) meeting, continuing efforts on development of the ‘Ocean Research in the Coming Decade’ plan. Additionally, NOPP attended the Federal Renewable Ocean Energy Working Group (FROEWG) call hosted by the DOE Water Power Technologies and Wind Energy Technologies Offices.

The NOPP Office welcomes our two Spring 2017 Science & Policy Communications Fellows to the NOPPO team! Learn more about Katherine McKee and Sarah Murray on our Staff page.

And remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@thenopp), and Instagram (@nopp_org)!