Articles

• Adapting to shifting sands
• 5 Questions on Engagement
• MASGC shares in Gulf Guardian Award
• Program to certify nature-tour operators
• Bruening recognized for outstanding service
• Symposium to feature adaptive management
• Waterfront-access committee nears end of mission
• Volunteers grow 45,000 oysters for restoration
• Potential end-users test tool for sea-level rise planning
• Fink joins Office of Coast Survey in Mobile
• Featured Publication
• From the Director

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

Editor: Melissa Schneider

Frontpage graphics: Matthew Capps

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: 228-818-8838
E-mail: seabriefs@masgc.org
MASGP 09-011-04

5 Questions on Engagement

Extension, outreach, and education
ENGAGEMENT TEAM

STACY RAY, left, is the NOAA nutrients and hypoxia engagement specialist working with the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Regional Collaboration Team and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA). She has a master’s degree
in environmental studies from the College of Charleston and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

MATTHEW CAPPS is a NOAA climate and resilience engagement specialist. He works with NOAA agencies that deal with climate and resilience issues to help them better connect with the people who use NOAA’s information and products. Capps has a master’s degree in landscape architecture and a bachelor’s degree in landscape horticulture, both from Auburn University.

LaDONNA “L.D.” HINESLEY is a communications specialist who is establishing a regional engagement working group to develop an engagement strategic plan for the Gulf of Mexico. She has a master’s degree in public and private management from Birmingham Southern College.

1. What is the NOAA Extension, Outreach and Education Pilot Program?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Extension, Outreach and Education (EOE) Pilot Program officially began in October, with the hiring of three project team members. Matthew Capps, Stacy Ray and LaDonna “L.D.” Hinesley will work to help NOAA improve its ability to have meaningful, two-way conversations with the public and strengthen teamwork and information sharing across NOAA agencies throughout the Gulf Coast region.

2. What is engagement?
In this program, engagement refers to NOAA’s interaction with the public, the people who use its information and its partners and potential partners. There are many ways to make engagement positive and successful. The NOAA Science Advisory Board report identifies several standards to measure engagement: accessibility to NOAA expertise and information; partnerships formed to address problems facing society; responsiveness to the needs of customers and partners; respect for the skills and capacities of those partners; awareness of NOAA as a neutral source of research information; integration of
NOAA’s diverse expertise; and coordination of NOAA resources.

3. Why did the EOE pilot program start?
The program was established in response to a Science Advisory Board report that called for the creation of a program to reinvent NOAA’s approach to EOE activities. The EOE pilot has one year of Congressional funding and will seek additional funding through NOAA. It will lead to a set of recommendations to NOAA for improving its ability to engage with constituents nationwide.

4. What projects will the EOE team complete?
Nutrients: Ray will work closely with the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Regional Collaboration Team. She also will work with the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) and Master Gardeners to implement a social marketing plan about residential fertilizer application. Along with the GOMA Nutrients Team, she will help develop an exchange program involving NOAA constituents in the Corn Belt states.

Climate and Resilience: Capps will work with NOAA agencies that deal with climate and resilience issues to help them better connect with the people who use NOAA’s information and products. One of his first tasks is creating a climate and resilience engagement panel with people from all types of industries, government agencies and non-government organizations to work with NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Collaboration Team.

Communications: Hinesley will establish a regional engagement working group to develop a strategic plan for the Gulf of Mexico that integrates and utilizes existing NOAA EOE programs and personnel.

5. Who are the program leaders?
LaDon Swann, director of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, will serve as the leader of this project along with Tony Zodrow, executive director of GulfQuest, an interactive maritime museum set to open in 2011 in Mobile, Ala.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT TEAM MEMBERS:
Ray (sray@gulfquesteoe.org)
Capps (mcapps@gulfquesteoe.org)
Hinesley (ldhinesley@gulfquesteoe.org)