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Emily Menashes

Fri, 2025-01-17 15:24
Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy Administrator

To be determined.

Across NOAA NOAA leadership

Planet NOAA Podcast 2025 Trailer

Fri, 2025-01-17 11:27
Planet NOAA Podcast 2025 Trailer

From delivering America its daily weather forecasts to unlocking the secrets of the deepest depths of the ocean, NOAA’s impact is felt from sun to sea and everywhere in between. Join us on the Planet NOAA Podcast to put your scientific trivia knowledge to the test, get up close with cool science, and stream one-on-one conversations with our top experts.

(Image credit: NOAA)

Audio file Transcript

[Planet NOAA theme music plays]

SARAH JESTER (HOST): From delivering America its daily weather forecasts to unlocking the secrets of the deepest depths of the ocean, NOAA’s impact is felt from sun to sea and everywhere in between. Join us on the Planet NOAA Podcast to put your scientific trivia knowledge to the test, get up close with cool science and stream one-on-one conversations with our top experts. Subscribe to Planet NOAA at noaa.gov/planetnoaa, on Apple Podcasts or via your podcatcher of choice.

January 17, 2025 0

Podcast: How NOAA satellites monitor ocean health

Fri, 2025-01-17 08:58
Podcast: How NOAA satellites monitor ocean health

A view from a satellite over Earth’s ocean and an aerial view of a blue whale. (Image credit: NOAA FISHERIES)

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Lessons in imagery: A summer learning about coral imagery analysis and NOAA career paths

Wed, 2025-01-15 12:53
Lessons in imagery: A summer learning about coral imagery analysis and NOAA career paths

Mia Gomez, a 2023 Hollings scholar, poses with her mentor, Shay Viehman, in front of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Beaufort Lab, where she did her internship.  (Image credit: Christina Mauney)

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Hi! I’m Mia Gomez, a 2023 NOAA Hollings scholar studying marine biology with a minor in law at Florida Atlantic University Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College in Jupiter, Florida. This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to evaluate coral reef cover during my internship at NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Beaufort Laboratory in Beaufort, North Carolina.

My summer research project focused on evaluating the effects of a marine heat wave on coral colonies at a Cheeca Rocks reef plot in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). Cheeca Rocks reef is monitored under the FKNMS’s restoration effort, called Mission: Iconic Reefs offsite link. This marine heat wave, which occurred from June to September of 2023, was of particular interest because it caused severe bleaching of the Florida Keys Marine Tract and occurred during the fourth known global bleaching event.

I evaluated coral resilience and reef condition by analyzing changes in the benthic community before and after the bleaching event. I found that the Cheeca Rocks reef plot had less coral cover, more macroalgae present, and increased coral mortality from June 2022 (pre-bleaching) to May 2024 (post-bleaching).

Mia Gomez in front of her computer, which displays the diver-collected imagery (left monitor) and orthophotomosaic map (right monitor) of the Cheeca Rocks reef plot that she annotated for analysis during her 2024 Hollings scholarship summer internship. (Image credit: Shay Viehman) Download Image Evaluating coral colonies

For this project, my mentor, Dr. Shay Viehman, and her team taught me large-scale imagery analysis and coral identification techniques. I analyzed high-resolution composite imagery, referred to as orthophotomosaics, of a fixed 10-meter by 10-meter Cheeca Rocks monitoring plot that had high coral cover. I compared orthophotomosaics for two dates: June 2022 and May 2024. I used TagLab software to annotate coral colonies, and my newfound knowledge of coral identification was used to label colony species in this orthophotomosaic imagery. I found that there was a change in the abundance of coral species present (coral diversity), quantified the space each coral colony took up on the reef (% coral cover), and noted the changed diversity of the marine community (community cover) in the plot from 2022 to 2024.

Comparison of coral cover from June 2022 (left) to May 2024 (right), before and after the marine heat wave of June to September 2023. The decrease in percent cover and coral diversity from 2022 to 2024 is evident. Percent coral cover decreased by 8%, turf macroalgae increased from 12 to 25%, and corals of the genus Orbicella had the highest percent cover.  (Image credit: Mia Gomez)Download Image Learning about NOAA science and careers

Throughout this internship, I learned about the Mission: Iconic Reefs restoration effort and the incredible work that goes into planning, restoring, and monitoring coral reefs in the Florida Keys. 

Furthermore, while at the Beaufort Lab, I met a variety of scientists and learned about their current projects and career paths at NOAA. There is an expansive variety of work being done at the lab, including research on sea turtles, salt marshes, oysters, data visualization, fisheries management, habitat protection, bathymetric mapping, dolphin photo-identification, estuaries, and coral restoration. 

I’m so grateful to have had this experience and truly appreciate the opportunity I had this summer to learn about the important role of coral imagery in restoration efforts and the diversity of careers at NOAA.

Mia Gomez poses in front of the NOAA Beaufort Lab sign on the last day of her 2024 Hollings internship.  (Image credit: Michaela Wong)Download Image

My internship showed me the teamwork and dedication that goes into science. I gained perspective on the collaboration between national efforts at the research, monitoring, restoration, and management levels to contribute to global restoration efforts and evaluate the resilience of coral reefs to climate stressors.

Mia Gomez Mia Gomez, 2023 Hollings scholar

Mia is a 2023 Hollings scholar studying marine biology with a minor in law at Florida Atlantic University Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College.

Education Office of Education Hollings Scholarship Scholar blog 2024 interns Internship line office: NOAA Fisheries Takeover Tuesday Project summary 1 Off

NOAA helps students and educators dive into environmental education

Wed, 2025-01-15 12:41
NOAA helps students and educators dive into environmental education

Hampton City Schools (Virginia) students track information about oysters they are growing in a project supported by Chesapeake B-WET.

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NOAA has awarded 16 new projects nearly $1.4 million in Fiscal Year 2024 funding as part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. These projects are located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C.; some will touch the entire region.

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$40 million recovered from polluters for restoration in three states

Wed, 2025-01-15 11:13

(Image credit: Floyd Snider)

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New modeled historical dataset closes gaps between NOAA tide stations

Wed, 2025-01-15 11:05

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Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions highlights 20 years of excellence

Wed, 2025-01-15 10:58
Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions highlights 20 years of excellence

The cover of the José E. Serrano Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions' (EPP/MSI) celebration of 20 years of excellence. (Image credit: NOAA Office of Education)

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The José E. Serrano Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) is proud to share this document summarizing the first 20 years of the program’s accomplishments and successes. It shares how EPP/MSI has built NOAA-mission capacity at minority serving institutions and supported more than 5,500 students, 75% of whom self-identified as being from a traditionally underrepresented and historically excluded community in NOAA mission-aligned disciplines. EPP/MSI’s funding and student support has increased the national attainment rates of doctoral degrees earned by underrepresented students in these disciplines.

EPP/MSI: Celebrating 20 years of excellence (PDF, 19.5 MB)

This document describes all of EPP/MSI’s components, which have prepared students for careers in NOAA mission-aligned disciplines and summarizes data on EPP/MSI program components between 2001 and 2021, including profiles of alumni who have risen to leadership positions at NOAA.

I am proud of everything EPP/MSI has accomplished. Working together, the EPP/MSI staff, academic partners, advocates and other supporters of the program within and beyond NOAA, and the students who have participated in EPP/MSI programs have much to be proud of. With their hard work, EPP/MSI has become an important pathway for talent development and a pipeline source for STEM professions across NOAA.

Louisa Koch, Director of Education

NOAA Education is pleased to present EPP/MSI’s accomplishments and looks forward to celebrating and supporting EPP/MSI’s continued excellence in the years to come.

EPP/MSI: Celebrating 20 years of excellence (PDF, 19.5 MB) 

Education Office of Education EPP/MSI 0 Related Features // NOAA commits to strengthen partnership with EPP/MSI Cooperative Science Centers On