NROC News – November 2016

NROC News – monthly news and updates from NROC, its member agencies and partners.

NROC would like you to know –

• NROC’s Coastal Hazards Resilience and Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem Health committees have drafted work plans for 2017-2018. These documents are now available on NROC’s website for review. Please send any comments to Dani Carter, NROC Coordinator, by December 16th. NROC’s role in future ocean planning will be determined once the NE Ocean Plan is approved by the National Ocean Council.
• In 2012, the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS) and the Northeast Region Ocean Council (NROC) formed a joint Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem Health Committee to oversee development of a Science and Implementation Plan for an Integrated Sentinel Monitoring Network (ISMN). Edition 1 of the plan, which is now available at www.neracoos.org/sentinelmonitoring, represents the culmination of the multidisciplinary efforts of nearly 50 state, federal, university and private entity collaborators and contributors. The plan lays the groundwork for an improved, cost-effective monitoring collaboration that builds on and adapts existing monitoring capacities through coordination, integration, gap analysis, and targeted enhancements. Moving forward NERACOOS will maintain the ISMN website where the plan documents and an inventory of current observing activities are housed, laying the foundations for the growing collaborative partnership. NERACOOS will also work to establish an Oversight Committee to guide implementation of the plan.

NROC Partners would like you to know –

• Northeast Ocean Plan: The Northeast Ocean Plan has been submitted to the White House National Ocean Council for final review and approval. Thank you to all who contributed your knowledge, expertise and feedback to this practical and forward-looking product that will help guide and inform our decisions in the ocean. The Northeast Regional Planning Body looks forward to celebrating this milestone and continuing this important work.  See www.neoceanplanning.org for updates and the Final Plan.
• Public Input Period Now Open for the Next 10-year Federal Ocean Research Plan:  The Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST), under the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), is requesting written input on the structure and content of its upcoming 10-year ocean research plan (tentatively titled “Ocean Research in the Coming Decade”). This new Plan will supersede the NSTC’s “Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United States for the Next Decade:  An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy,” that was published in 2007 and updated in 2013. The Plan will describe the most pressing research questions and most promising areas of opportunity within the ocean science and technology (S&T) enterprise for the coming decade. It will set the stage for actions across Federal agencies and with non-Federal entities to address societal needs and issues of national importance. A public input period on the Plan is open now until January 1, 2017.The SOST invites all interested parties to provide input relevant to the Nation’s ocean S&T enterprise. Suggestions directed toward how the Plan should be structured and specific topic areas that should be considered for inclusion in the Plan are particularly encouraged. See the Federal Register Notice for additional information on the public input period. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/10/28/2016-26118/plan-for-ocean-research-in-the-coming-decade. To provide input, please visit https://contribute.globalchange.gov/plan-ocean-research-coming-decade. For more information on the Plan and to view the Plan prospectus, please visit www.nsf.gov/geo/oce/orp. General inquiries may be directed to oceanresearchplan@nsf.gov.