Photo credit: Architect of the Capitol

The U.S. IOOS Advisory Committee held their fall meeting virtually on November 29 and December 6, 2021. The committee met to determine their priorities and develop new recommendations for the NOAA Administrator Dr. Richard W. Spinrad and the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee. The agenda and meeting materials can be accessed here, as well as the meeting minutes when available.

Ocean data and information is in increasing demand for a broad spectrum of societal needs, and so the committee opted for a two-phased approach to bring these priorities to NOAA and the IOOC, organizing topics by urgency, specific requests for advice from leadership, and relevance to budget decision making. Phase 1 priorities include:

• Climate
• New Blue Economy
• Diversity & inclusion

Phase 2 priorities include:

• Marine Life program
• Enterprise excellence & governance
• Design of the FY24 external evaluation

The meeting also afforded an opportunity to welcome 5 new members to the committee: Eoin Howlett, Trinnex; Julio Morell, Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System; Catherine Edwards, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography; Dan Costa, University of California, Santa Cruz; and Jason Biggs, Guam Department of Agriculture. Members serve up to two three-year terms, and so this meeting also saw the return of 10 standing members while three members — Jennifer Hagen, Quileute Indian Tribe; Thomas B. Curtin, University of Washington; and Doug Vandemark, University of New Hampshire — rotated off the committee.

The U.S. IOOS Advisory Committee is a federal advisory committee that provides advice to NOAA and the IOOC, mandated by the ICOOS Act as amended by the Coastal Ocean Observations and Research Act. It is made up of non-federal experts that represent scientific institutions, marine technology industries, Coastal & Great Lakes use industries, non-governmental organizations, state, local, and tribal interests, and national and international ocean leadership. The Committee provides advice on a broad array of topics, including:

• Administration, operation, management, and maintenance of the U.S. IOOS, including integration of federal and non-federal assets and data management and communication aspects of U.S. IOOS, in fulfillment of the ICOOS Act.
• Expansion and periodic modernization and upgrade of technology components of U.S. IOOS.
• Identification of end-user communities, their needs for information provided by U.S. IOOS, and U.S. IOOS’ effectiveness in disseminating information to end-user communities and the general public; and any other purpose identified by the Administrator or the IOOC.

The committee Chair is Scott Rayder, Alabama Water Institute, University of Alabama and the vice-chair is Sara Graves, University of Alabama, Huntsville. For more information and short bios for all the members, please visit the IOOS Advisory Committee website.