Social and economic hydrologic riSk factorS in the coaStal zone.Population and economic trends (Bin and Kruse 2006) in coastal counties have tremendous implications for how these areas respond to and recover from natural and man-made hazards, particularly those of a hydrologic/hydrodynamic nature (Willigen et al. 2005). Floods affect the entire spectrum of regional activities, from the morning commute to agribusiness to community decision making. As businesses expand into areas prone to storm surge, more drivers are vulnerable to floods as they navigate vehicles across low-lying coastal
The National Federation of Regional Associations for Coastal and Ocean Observing (NFRA) is the organization charged with building the regional component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®). Because IOOS is a user-driven system, understanding
the needs of regional stakeholders is fundamental to its success. The job of promoting awareness and use of IOOS data largely falls to the regional education and outreach coordinators, at least for those Regional Associations (RAs) fortunate enough to have one. This article is designed (1)
to describe how the NFRA Education and Outreach Committee originated, (2) to provide suggestions to create a strategic approach to the evaluation of IOOS education and outreach products and programs, and (3) to describe the “lessons learned” from the many collaborations. A case
study related to the Transocean Ltd.-owned/British Petroleum-leased Deepwater Horizon oil spill is described to demonstrate the societal value of RAs and their ability to serve as rapid responders during crisis events.
A B S T R A C TThe management of the SEACOOS program and its evolution over a five-year period are reviewed. The topics included pertain to the mechanisms used to create a consortium, define its mission, develop and manage its annual budget and tasking cycle; and the history of its focus over a five-year period. The management of SEACOOS was complex and required significant efforts to develop new approaches and collaborative mechanisms. Changes in management were made as weaknesses were identified and to enable a more unified approach to the evaluation, operations, data management and outreach efforts. A number of programmatic lessons learned are summarized that may be of value for future development of regional coastal ocean observing systems.
P A P E R Founding Members
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.