Mary Dudley,
Boise, Idaho — Since 1990, Dudley has provided a link
between conservation-minded Idaho citizens of all ages and
backgrounds and ecologically meaningful wetland and riparian
volunteer restoration opportunities. She engaged
more than 1,200 volunteers (12,000 hours of service) in more
than 600 wetland and riparian restoration projects in 2003.
Thor J.
Lassen, Arlington, Va. — Lassen has worked
closely with NOAA, other federal and state agencies, Sea Grant
extension agents and community groups to help realize the
largest estuary restoration project in the USA, the Bahia
Grande, an 11,000 acre preserve in the Gulf of Mexico.
Cornelia
Norman Penland, New Orleans, La. — Penland
is the secretary treasurer and land manager of the Edward
Wisner Donation, which includes 35,000 acres of wetland habitat
located in the Louisiana Coastal zone. Projects undertaken
by Penland help protect environmentally sensitive wetlands
that provide refuge for countless wildlife and fish species.
P.J. Foley,
Quincy, Mass. — P.J. Foley (a.k.a. “Pied
Piper of Quincy Salt Marshes”) is almost individually
responsible for getting hundreds of his neighbors, city, state
and federal agencies excited about restoring and increasing
community stewardship for the salt marsh in the Hough’s
Neck region of Quincy, Mass.
Robert
Kramer, Dania Beach, Fla. — Kramer has spent
his adult life working in the conservation and preservation
of marine fish species. He has worked tirelessly both inside
and outside of government to educate and inform the public
about the importance of preserving the environment as it is
utilized through sportfishing in Florida.
Jack C.
Caldwell, Lafayette, La. — Caldwell made it
his personal mission to protect Louisiana’s natural
resources and reclaim the 25 square miles of wetlands that
are lost in the state every year. He personally authored numerous
acts that have secured additional coastal restoration funds
from oil and gas revenues, created programs that benefit commercial
fisherman and reduce state liabilities, and helped to create
a more effective mitigation system.
Mark Lancaster,
Weaverville, Calif. — Lancaster has worked extensively
and tirelessly between federal and state agencies and five
northern California counties in the development and implementation
of the Five Counties Salmon Conservation Program, which resulted
in a comprehensive water quality and stream habitat protection
manual. Working with the five counties and NOAA Fisheries,
Lancaster coordinated an inventory of all county road crossings,
which included more than 2,000 miles of county roads and 2.5
million cubic yards of potential sediment that could enter
anadromous streams.
Curtis
Duncan, KLOE Radio, Goodland, Kan. — Duncan
has been a tremendous supporter of the NOAA National Weather
Service forecast office in Goodland, Kan., since his arrival
in 1997 and is well known in the community for his public
service, especially when it comes to weather. He has helped
to increase public awareness to the presence of the NWS in
the community and the public service it provides.
Clay Freinwald,
Seattle, Wash. — Freinwald led the effort to create
a true “all-hazards” NOAA Weather Radio automated
network within the state of Washington. As a result, 94 percent
of the state’s residents have access to the NOAA Weather
Radio broadcasts.
Soraya
Flores-Guirreri, New Orleans, La. — Flores-Guirreri
has worked closely with the NOAA National Weather Service
forecast office in Slidell, La., during such notable weather
events as the May 1995 flood, the 1998 hurricane season (including
Hurricane Georges) and the 2002-2003 hurricane season (Bertha,
Hannah, Isidore, Lili and Bill). Flores-Guirreri immigrated
to the United States from Pedro Sula, Honduras, in 1986.
Wayne E.
Johnson, Fort Smith, Ark. — The 2004 storm
season will be the 31st season that Johnson has worked with
the NOAA National Weather Service as a volunteer amateur radio
operator. Johnson makes himself available around the clock
and works many hours each year in the NWS facility in Fort
Smith, Ark.
J. David
Lambert, Jacksonville, Fla. — Lambert has been
the primary individual responsible for the design, development
and implementation of the Florida Department of Transportation’s
Road Weather Information System. Currently, there are 17 operational
sites along the North Florida Interstate Highways, with an
additional 10 sites to be implemented this year in Central
Florida as part of the Federal Highway Works Administration-
Florida DOT project known as iFlorida.
Pietro
Parravano, Half Moon Bay, Calif. — Parravano
has improved the awareness of NOAA National Weather Service
forecasters and NOAA Research staff in the hazards faced by
the fishing community of California by his contributions to
NWS training programs and input to yearly field research programs
conducted by NOAA Research and NWS.
Jim Rea,
Glasgow, Mont. — Rea volunteered to help the NOAA National
Weather Service and state of Montana by sharing his vast knowledge
and interests in hydrology and climatology that began in his
years in the NWS and has continued throughout his retirement.
Ron Valley,
KSPS Television, Spokane, Wash. — Valley has worked
with the NOAA National Weather Service warning coordination
meteorologist in Spokane, Wash., over the past 20 years to
organize and develop emergency communications and the All-Hazards
Emergency Alert System (EAS) for the Inland Northwest.
Donald
Oswalt, Salem, Ore. — Oswalt has devoted his
professional life to protecting coastal resources. For more
than 20 years, he has served as the Oregon Coastal Management
Program’s senior policy analyst, administrator of the
306A small construction/coastal access project program, and
in the last ten years added to these duties the task of chief
designer and manager of the program’s coastal document
collection and library.
Pauline
Dyer, Seattle, Wash. — Dyer is a founding member
and current president of the Friends of the Olympic Coast
Marine Sanctuary, an organization formed in 2003 to increase
public appreciation and guardianship of the NOAA Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary through public education and outreach,
engaging citizens in stewardship and volunteer programs, and
promoting conservation initiatives. She was also instrumental
in the creation of the Olympic Coast Marine Sanctuary in 1994.
Hugh Robert
Williams, Savannah, Ga. — In 1997, NOAA Gray’s
Reef National Marine Sanctuary education staff began partnering
with Williams to broadcast ocean science programs to classrooms
across Georgia. As of 2004, that broadcast audience includes
students in 12 other states. By partnering with him through
use of his studio, GRNMS staff has reached more than 5,000
students in the past seven years.
Hannah
Nevins, Moss Landing, Calif. — Since 2001,
Nevins has spearheaded coordinating volunteer data collection
on beachcast birds and mammals; analyzing data on die-off
events for contribution to science and resource management;
and making information available to the public in California.
Ian Miller,
Port Angeles, Wash. — Miller has worked diligently to
connect people with the ocean and to promote respect for and
stewardship of the Olympic Coast. One of his current accomplishments
has been to launch a unique water-quality monitoring program
in the area that will likely prove valuable for many ocean-oriented
agencies, including the NOAA Olympic Coast National Marine
Sanctuary in the state of Washington.
Jaimie
Hall, San Francisco, Calif. — Hall has been
a long-term volunteer for the NOAA Cordell Bank National Marine
Sanctuary in California. He has been flexible at the drop
of a hat to jump on a research cruise to help with monitoring
or documentation efforts. Jaimie is a skilled photographer
and videographer. Many of his photos have been used in sanctuary
education programs and publications.
Ken Nedimyer,
Tavernier, Fla. — Nedimyer is being recognized for his
devoted lifetime commitment and contributions to fostering
a healthy marine ecosystem in the Florida Keys. As a live
rock aquarist and tropical marine collector, he is a skilled
observer of marine life trends and unusual events and consistently
shares his observations with NOAA Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary managers and other resource agencies.
Richard
Carey, Severna Park, Md. — Carey is being recognized
for training, building, organizing and sustaining a volunteer
dive team of more than 20 volunteer divers that conduct dive
operations 52 weeks a year primarily for oyster restoration
in Chesapeake Bay, Md. Carey and his dive team work in extremely
low visibility and cold winter temperatures of the bay to
measure the success or failure of oyster restoration efforts.
Nikolai
Filippovich Elansky, Moscow, Russia — Elansky
has contributed much to the understanding of the Russian emissions
of important trace gases that contribute to climate forcing
(greenhouse gases), stratospheric ozone depletion and air
quality. This is important to programs like the NOAA Climate
Monitoring Diagnostics Lab because there exists very little
information on trace gases inside any of the countries of
the former Soviet Union.
Joseph
Sealy, Barbados, West Indies — Sealy has been
responsible for a 16-year time series of trace gas measurements
from Ragged Point Barbados by collecting weekly air samples
from the eastern-most point on the island of Barbados. The
samples are returned to the NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics
Lab in Boulder, Colo., for measurements of CO2, CH4, CO, H2,
N2O, SF6, and the stable isotopes of CO2.
Anthony
Guillory, Huntsville, Ala. — Guillory and Paul
Meyer (below) are recognized for their extensive personal
contributions of time and money in support of an enhanced
regional meteorological observing network in northern Alabama.
Entirely on their own time, and utilizing their own financial
resources, they have single-handedly site surveyed, assembled
and installed eight weather stations since February 2003.
Paul Meyer,
Huntsville Ala. —Meyer and Anthony Guillory (above)
are reconized for their extensive personal contributions of
time and money in support of an enhanced regional meteorological
observing network in northern Alabama. Entirely on their own
time, and utilizing their own financial resources, they have
single-handedly site surveyed, assembled and installed eight
weather stations since February 2003.
LeRoy Jones,
Somerville, Texas — Jones and Harry Davis, Jr. (below)
developed the Jones-Davis Bycatch Reduction Device to minimize
the take of bycatch in shrimp trawls. They assisted NOAA Fisheries
with the development of gear designs to improve the efficiency
of shrimp trawl gear and reduce the take of non-targeted species.
They worked with NOAA Fisheries as training partners for fishery
observers who collect data essential for the optimal management
of Gulf of Mexico fishery resources.
Harry R.
Davis, Jr., Somerville, Texas —Davis and LeRoy
Jones (above) developed the Jones-Davis Bycatch Reduction
Device to minimize the take of bycatch in shrimp trawls. They
assisted NOAA Fisheries with the development of gear designs
to improve the efficiency of shrimp trawl gear and reduce
the take of non-targeted species. They worked with NOAA Fisheries
as training partners for fishery observers who collect data
essential for the optimal management of Gulf of Mexico fishery
resources.
KAKM Channel
7, Anchorage, Alaska — It was recognized in
the 1970s that Alaska has the highest number of pilots per
capita in the nation and is strongly dependent on aviation
travel. KAKM’s vision was to produce a television weather
show that aircraft pilots could watch to help plan their flights.
On December 13, 1976, that vision became a reality as KAKM,
in partnership with the NOAA National Weather Service Alaska
Region, aired the first television weather show entitled “Aviation
Weather.”
Monterey
Bay Kayaks, Monterey, Calif. — Monterey Bay
Kayaks has been instrumental in the NOAA Monterey Bay National
Marine Sanctuary, Calif., achieving its mission through programs
such as Team OCEAN Kayak Naturalists (Team OCEAN) and MERITO
(Multicultural Education for Resource Issues Threatening Oceans).
Team OCEAN is a sanctuary program providing on-the-water outreach
aimed at decreasing wildlife disturbance and educating kayakers
about the NOAA sanctuary.
Northeast
Marine Pilots Association, Newport, R.I. —
The education and outreach accomplished by the Newport, R.I.-based
Northeast Marine Pilots Association, at no cost to the public,
has been a significant contribution to mitigating right whale
ship collisions in the northeast USA. The education foundation
being laid by the association is an invaluable asset to NOAA’s
efforts to ensure the conservation and protection of these
endangered whales.
