Articles

• Bio-fuels
• 10 Questions on the NSLGC
• Dolphin SMART
• NOAA Team Focuses on Ways to Better Serve Customers
• Aquaculture Workshop
• Sea Briefs Editor Leaves Post
• D'Abramo Leaves MASGC Position
• Tim Mulvaney Comes Aboard
• Coastal Symposium to Focus on North Central Gulf Issues
• Success Story
• Upcoming Events
• Featured Publication
• From the Director

Sea Briefs is a report on the results of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

Editor: Laura Bowie

This newsletter is available in PDF format from:
masgc.org/seabriefs

MASGC supports applied, interdisciplinary marine science research, education and outreach efforts to foster the sustainable development and management of the Mississippi and Alabama coasts and nearshore ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico

Mississippi-Alabama
Sea Grant Consortium
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
Phone: 228-818-8840
E-mail: seabriefs@masgc.org
MASGP 08-011-03

NOAA Team Focuses on Ways to Better Serve Customers

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wants to do a better job of serving its customers. For that reason, about 80 people from five NOAA line offices attended the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Regional Team’s Extension, Outreach and Education Workshop on Aug. 12-13 in Mobile, Ala.

In breakout sessions, participants discussed best practices for maximizing NOAA’s responsiveness, respect for partners, academic neutrality, accessibility, integration, coordination and resource partnerships. Some ideas included developing and implementing a NOAA marketing campaign, developing a speakers bureau and creating an inventory of NOAA products and services and distribution centers where they are available.

A stakeholder panel of nearly 20 people shared their ideas about what NOAA could do to better reach its customers through extension, outreach and education activities. NOAA customers include anyone who uses its scientific information, products, technology or services.

Stakeholders said that NOAA should brand itself, perhaps with a marketing campaign to let people know what it is and what it does. They also recommended creating an inventory of NOAA products and distribution centers so people could know what materials are available and where to get them.

Speakers at the event discussed the NOAA Science Advisory Board’s extension, outreach and education recommendations; the Sea Grant Academy; using joint fact finding to empower NOAA customers; and the One NOAA concept for engagement, among other subjects.

“The Gulf of Mexico Extension, Outreach and Education Workshop was a real step forward for NOAA and the Regional Collaboration effort,” said NOAA Director of Education Louisa Koch. “The workshop identified best practices for how we engage our customers, connect with research programs and support durable natural resource decisions. This effort will improve our ability to assist people making complex resource decisions and more effectively bring NOAA science to life."

To learn more about what information was collected during this workshop, go to masgc.org/eoeworkshop and click on “Workshop Results.”