SPOTLIGHT:  NOAA CESSRST Researchers visits NOAA Earth System Research Lab in Boulder, CO

Posted on August 16, 2018

A three-day NOAA OAR/ESRL and NOAA Cooperative Science Center Collaborative meeting was hosted by the ESRL Director Dr. Robert Webb and his team and coordinated by Dr. Robert Cifelli on August 13-15, 2018, in Boulder, CO.

The purpose of the meeting was to initiate new collaborations and strengthen existing ones with NOAA-OAR’s Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) and its different divisions— particularly Physical Sciences and other divisions including Chemical Sciences, Global Systems and Global Science Divisions.

“NOAA Cooperative Science Centers collaborate with NOAA Scientists and Researchers across the Agency to engage in NOAA mission science and social science and train the future skilled and diverse workforce for the Agency and the Nation…”

The meeting kicked off with ESRL and CREST/NERTO overview presentations by Robert Webb (ESRL/PSD) and Shakila Merchant (NOAA/CREST) respectively, followed by several presentations by both CREST scientists/students and PSD scientists on the first two meeting days.

Meeting Goal:

To engage NOAA/OAR ESRL/PSD scientists, leadership/management with NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies ( www.noaacrest.org) and other NOAA Cooperative Science Center (CSCs to create and/or enhance existing research and educational collaborations focused on water cycle and resource management for CSC researchers and the students especially from underrepresented minority communities.

Meeting Outcomes:

• Engage more NOAA scientists/researchers in the existing CSCs science/ research/education plan.
• Identified new areas of research and education/training that are of mutual interests and that align with NOAA, OAR/ESRL and CREST mission priorities.
• Exploring options for joint seminar series – or engage in the existing seminar series.
• Increase the NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunities (NERTO) for Cooperative Science Centers (CSC) funded students at the NOAA facilities within NOAA/OAR/ESRL and/or NOAA/NWS/National Water Center.
• Write joint proposal in response to internal and external solicitations and publish joint peer reviewed journal articles.
• Explore options for joint- post-doctoral opportunities.
• Co-host future AMS and AGU sessions on mutually interested NOAA

Meeting Highlights:

• One of the major highlights of the meeting was to identify and/or increase experiential learning opportunities for early career scientists—graduate and postdoctoral students. It is worth mentioning that several NOAA Cooperative Science Centers (CSCs) funded students are currently receiving experiential- based training in several OAR and ESRL labs by the NOAA mentors. CREST delegates were also given lab tours that showcased various ongoing NOAA mission-priority research projects at ESRL. It was an indeed eye-opening experience especially for the students who were able to connect with NOAA’s Vision of Science, Service and Stewardship.
• Four CREST graduate students—Equisha Glenn, Jean Pierre Valle, David Melecio-Vasquez and Aris Fernandez showcased their research projects and discussed their upcoming plans of NOAA Experiential and Research Training Opportunities (NERTO) at NOAA OAR/ESRL labs. CREST and ESRL/PSD members immersed in an in-depth presentations of existing research projects and expertize that culminated into creating a short-and long-term collaborative research and education/training plans. Details on the collaborative projects will be available on the ESRL and CREST websites.

A luncheon meeting with all ESRL Division directors on the 2nd day led to the discussions on the existing and future scope of research and education collaborations across ESRL laboratory.

Looking Ahead:

The third day of the meeting was dedicated to the National Water Model demonstration and deliberations on future collaborations and engagement in the areas of mutual interests such as— drought, flooding, food, and snow that ties into the NOAA renewed missions of

"Weather, Water and the Blue Economy".

Plans to reconnect at the upcoming AGU and AMS meetings and initiate monthly brown-bag series brought the three-days meeting to an enthusiastic end!

The meeting certainly set a path forward for NOAA/ESRL/PSD and NOAA CREST to stay connected and meaningfully engage in advancing NOAA’s science, social science and education missions.

Meeting Attendees:

CREST Scientists: Reza Khanbilvardi, Shakila Merchant, Rafael Solis Rodriguez, Tarendra Lakhankar, Jonathan Muñoz, Indrani Pal,

CREST Students: Equisha Dian Glenn, David Melecio Vazquez,Jean Pierre Valle, Aris Fernandez

NOAA/OAR/PSD Scientists: Robert Webb, Roger Pulwarty, Richard Lataitis, Robert Cifelli, Kelly Mahoney, Robert Zamora, Mimi Hughes, Jungho Kim, Mike Hobbins, Andy Hoell, Gary Wick, Lynn Johnson,

Other ESRL Division Directors: Kevin Kellerher-GSD, James Butler – GMD, and David Fahey—CSD.

More information on NOAA/ESRL/PSD and NOAA CREST Center, please contact: Robert Webb, NOAA/OAR/ESRL Director, 303-497-5942 and Reza Khanbilvardi, NOAA CREST Director, 212.650.8009