USA: NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel Receives Four New Members

Last month, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. appointed four new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee comprised of maritime officials and industry executives that provide independent counsel and strategic recommendations to NOAA on improving ocean and coastal navigation products, information, data and services. The new panel members were sworn in at the panel meeting in May.

“With bigger ships and busier waterways, NOAA’s navigation services serve as the foundation of America’s ocean economy by protecting life and property and connecting us to the global marketplace,” said NOAA Deputy Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D. “Our new committee members will contribute important maritime and coastal expertise as we continue to position America for the future.”

The panel provides advice and recommendations on hydrographic surveying; nautical charting; water level and current measurements; geodetic measurements; shoreline mapping; and technologies relating to operations, research and development, and dissemination of data.

New members of the panel are:

Rear Adm. Kenneth E. Barbor, U.S. Navy (ret.), University of Southern Mississippi

Capt. Deborah D. Dempsey, Columbia River Bar Pilots

Rear Adm. Evelyn Fields, NOAA Corps (ret.)

Dr. Frank L. Kudrna, Kudrna & Associates, Ltd.

“NOAA’s navigational products and services are essential to meeting unprecedented demands from maritime commerce,” Sullivan said. “Whether it is ensuring safe navigation through new Arctic transit routes, hastening the re-opening of ports after hurricanes and other emergencies, or acquiring data for coastal science and ocean planning, NOAA will gain immense benefit from advice offered by this panel.”

The Hydrographic Services Review Panel was established in 2003 as directed by the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 2002. The panel functions in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and advises the NOAA administrator on matters related to NOAA’s hydrographic and navigation services. More information is available online.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources.

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Subsea World News Staff , June 19, 2012; Image: NOAA