The Wrack

In the summer of 2009, Marissa Hammond came to us as a wide-eyed freshman with little experience in research science. She has blossomed into a NOAA scholarship award winner who has been accepted into a highly respected graduate program in fisheries management and policy.

The White House has released a draft implementation plan for National Ocean Policy, demonstrating ongoing progress on a massive task. The draft implementation plan is guided by four themes:

1. Adopt ecosystem-based management
2. Obtain, use, and share the best science and data
3. Promote efficiency and collaboration
4. Strengthen regional efforts

The plan lays out a series of more than 50 actions? with accompanying outcomes and milestones  guided by these National Priority Objectives:

It's official: Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve

On Friday, November 4, the House and Senate conferees agreed to legislation setting the FY 06 funding levels for science-related agencies and the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce. The $57.85 billion spending bill that was approved included $3.9 billion for NOAA, splitting the difference between the Senate mark of $4.5 billion and the House mark of $3.38 billion. The final figure for NOAA is…