VIMS
Marine Advisory Program

NOAA Climate Literacy Workshop

In early 2010, the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) and NOAA’s North Atlantic Regional Team (NART) co-sponsored three days training for a regional network of “climate ambassadors.” Each state in the north Atlantic region, Maine to Virginia, sent one NOAA line office representative as well as one state Sea Grant specialist to the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Institute in Narragansett, RI. The trainees received two full days of training led by experts in their respective climate-related fields, including the state of climate science, expressing uncertainty, climate models and regional downscaling, communicating climate science, and the NOAA climate service and climate portal. Upon completing the Tier 1 training in Rhode Island, the ambassadors were charged with completing a Tier 2 workshop relaying the NOAA climate information they had gained during the training to their state’s other Sea Grant and NOAA colleagues.

The desired outcomes of the project were:

  • Increase knowledge about NOAA's role and resources for supporting climate change research and outreach among NOAA professionals
  • Increase communication among NOAA professionals working in the region on climate topics

Tier 2 Workshops

VIRGINIA
Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Location: Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Participants included representatives from:

  • Virginia Sea Grant
  • NOAA's National Weather Service, Chesapeake Bay Office and NOAA at Nauticus
  • Chesapeake National Estuarine Research Reserve of Virginia
  • Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

Agenda (pdf)

MARYLAND
Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Location: Chesapeake Bay Office in Annapolis, MD
Participants included representatives from:
  • Maryland Sea Grant
  • NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office and Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management
  • Maryland Department of Natural Resources
  • Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve of Maryland
  • Center for Watershed Protection

Agenda (pdf)

Virginia Climate Ambassadors:
Paula Jasinski - Formerly with the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, now with Chesapeake Environmental Communications
Christopher Petrone - Marine Education Specialist, Virginia Sea Grant Marine Extension Program

Maryland Climate Ambassadors:
Erica Seiden - Project Manager, NOAA's Estuarine Reserves Division
Daphne Pee - Regional Water Quality Liaison, Mid-Atlantic Water Program
Vicky Carrasco - Coastal Communities Specialist, Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program

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