We hope you had a great Earth Day! We did, and we had a lot of fun! Scroll down to check out the April newsletter to view this month's updates or visit our website or Voyager
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PacIOOS Instruments and Tools
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| PacIOOS Wave Buoy off Maui's North Shore. |
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Maui Wave Buoy Redeployed
The PacIOOS wave buoy off Maui's North Shore is back online. The Maui wave buoy was successfully redeployed in mid-April, and continues to serve data on wave height, direction, period, and sea surface temperature. The information recorded provides resources managers, scientists, fishermen, surfers and many other ocean users with real-time data to support safe decision making. Data are managed by the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Long-term partnerships with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and CDIP enable data streaming into the PacIOOS website and PacIOOS Voyager.
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PacIOOS Director Melissa Iwamoto presents to Island Sustainability Conference participants. |
2016 Island Sustainability Conference
PacIOOS attended and presented at the 2016 Island Sustainability Conference in Guam, co-hosted by the
University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This year's conference was centered around the topic of "Islanded Communities" to inspire change, facilitate action, and provide a venue for collaboration on sustainability issues. Many lessons can be learned in finding sustainable solutions, both from tropical island communities as well as remote communities in Alaska. PacIOOS' presentation addressed how island resiliency can be supported through innovative tools using ocean information.
In addition, PacIOOS also presented at two pre-conference workshops, one focusing on climate change, while the other one brought together Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) specialists and users. PacIOOS took advantage of being in the Western Pacific for the conference to meet with partners and stakeholders on Guam and Saipan. Strengthening existing partnerships and exploring new opportunities and collaborations are a priority for PacIOOS.
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| PacIOOS volunteer explains the difference between fresh and salt water using a salinity probe. |
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PacIOOS Earth Day Community and Student Outreach
PacIOOS participated in the annual Mauka to Makai Expo at the Waikīkī Aquarium, sponsored by the State of Hawai'i Department of Health Clean Water Branch and the City and County Storm Water Quality Branch. The event's purpose is to educate the community about the effects of storm water runoff to coastal oceans and the need to keep waterways clear mauka to makai (from the mountain to the sea). True to the theme of the event, PacIOOS offered a booth with various interactive stations to teach young and old about nearshore water quality monitoring. Activities included hands-on experiments related to turbidity, salinity, temperature, and depth. More than 3,700 community members attended the event, keeping PacIOOS volunteers and staff busy.
PacIOOS Marine Research Engineer, Kimball Millikan, presented to two classes at Waialua High and Intermediate School offering insights into the
PacIOOS wave buoy program and associated technical tasks. Inspired by his presentation, students already expressed interest to get involved in the program and possibly pursue a career in ocean and earth sciences.
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Congratulations to ARCS Foundation Award Recipient
PacIOOS Graduate Assistant and PhD student Lindsey Benjamin, received the 2016 Helen Jones Farrar Award in Oceanography from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation. Each year, the ARCS Foundation Honolulu chapter awards $5,000 to scholars in selected fields at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa to support new scientists and engineers who advance knowledge and innovative technologies. Lindsey's research focuses on using sea surface current measurements south of O'ahu to study tsunami resonant modes and look for meteotsunamis, or tsunamis generated by the atmosphere. She also recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research "The 2011 Tohoku tsunami south of O'ahu: High-frequency Doppler radio observations and model simulations of currents."
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 PacIOOS Ocean Observation Highlights
Are you interested to learn more about PacIOOS' efforts? Check out our latest publication, "Ocean Observation Highlights from the Pacific Islands Region"
online or contact us if you wish to receive a hardcopy. The magazine not only highlights a few of our 2015 accomplishments, but also introduces readers to the uniqueness of the Pacific Islands region. Interesting facts and visuals help to illustrate the vast extent of the PacIOOS region and its diverse ocean observation needs.
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 2015 IOOS Report to Congress
The U.S.
IOOS
developed a report to congress detailing accomplishments of the IOOS enterprise.
This report addresses continuing activities and processes in implementing the 2009 Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observing System (ICOOS) Act, which authorized the establishment of a national ocean observing system, IOOS. The report is produced every two years, with the latest edition covering program updates and milestones for the time period 2013 and 2014.
Download the report
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Aloha and Iakwe to a New PacIOOS Partner
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PacIOOS is excited to welcome a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) partner. The Republic of the Marshall Islands Ports Authority (
RMIPA
) is responsible for the management, operation, development, and maintenance of two multi-purpose port facilities and the international airport, all of which are located on Majuro Atoll, the capital and main port of entry for the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Meeting the transportation needs for RMI's island communities and visitors is a top priority for RMIPA. PacIOOS is looking forward to learn more about RMIPA's ocean observation needs, increase usage of existing tools and data, and strengthen communications with seaport users.
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Meet our Newest Communications Team Member
A warm welcome to Catherine Morgan who recently joined as PacIOOS' Communications Student Assistant. Catherine will help with the preparation of outreach materials, social media posts, newsletters, and other communication products to further PacIOOS' stakeholder engagement. Drawing from her experience as a Camp Counselor for the Boy Scouts of America, Catherine will also participate in community outreach events to educate "K to Gray" about PacIOOS' ocean observation efforts.Catherine is a transfer student from Southern California where she studied natural science at Pasadena City College. She is currently working on her B.S. degree in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. In her free time, Catherine likes to spend time outside either hiking, going to the beach, or camping. She enjoys volunteer work in ocean related programs and has volunteered in the past with the Hawaiʻi Ocean Time-series program (HOT) collecting water samples at the ALOHA station using a CTD. Catherine's goal after completing her undergraduate degree is to join the NOAA Corps and aid in NOAA's environmental and scientific mission.
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Based within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, PacIOOS is the Pacific Islands regional component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (
IOOS®
). PacIOOS is a partnership of data providers and users working together to enhance ocean observations and develop, disseminate, evaluate, and apply ocean data and information products designed to address the environmental, economic, and public safety needs of stakeholders who call the Pacific Islands home. For more information on PacIOOS, please visit
www.pacioos.org
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Copyright © 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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