TOP NOAA ADMINISTRATORS VISIT LMRCSC AT UMES

On November 23, 2015, the Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC) welcomed Vice Admiral Manson Brown, assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction; Craig McLean, assistant administrator, NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR); and Dr. Marlene Kaplan, deputy director, NOAA Office of Education, to the center’s lead institution, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), for a daylong visit with campus administrators, faculty, and students.

“The visit was a tremendous opportunity for our scientists, staff and students to learn about OAR, network and discuss several environmental challenges we have in common, the impacts the LMRCSC is having in research and training of students in NOAA related disciplines, and how the expertise available at the LMRCSC can be leveraged to address environmental challenges,” said Paulinus Chigbu, Ph.D., director of the LMRCSC.

During the visit, Chigbu and McLean shared the ongoing work and goals of their respective entities and discussed areas where the LMRCSC and OAR could collaborate. Project directors from the LMRCSC partner institutions listened in on McClean’s presentation and contributed to the discussion. Later in the day, the guests met with top administrators at UMES, including President Juliette Bell, Dale Wesson, Ph.D., vice president for research and economic development, and Stephen McDaniel, vice president for institutional advancement.

Brown, McClean, and Kaplan, accompanied by DaNa Carlis, Ph.D., and UMES/LMRCSC alumnus Lonnie Gonsalves, Ph.D., offered professional advice to LMRCSC graduate and undergraduate students in a question and answer session in the late afternoon. Carlis is a policy advisor to VADM Brown and Gonsalves is a National Ocean Service program coordination officer in the Office of the Under Secretary. 

PHOTO CAPTION: Students from NOAA LMRCSC at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore pose with VADM Manson Brown (front, second from right); Craig McLean, assistant administrator, NOAA OAR (front right); Paulinus Chigbu, director of the LMRCSC (second row, second from right); Richard Love, Ph.D., Office of the Under Secretary (second row, far right); UMES/LMRCSC Alumnus Lonnie Gonsalves (third row, third from right); DaNa Carlis, (third row, fifth from right). 

PHOTO CREDIT: DaNa Carlis, NOAA