VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr. U.S. Navy (Ret.) Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere NOAA Administrator University of New Hampshire Sea Grant College Status Designation Ceremony August 20, 2003 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. President Hart, Dr. Baird, Nancy Ragland Perkins, members of the University and New Hampshire Sea Grant program, Good Afternoon. It is a great pleasure to be here today to celebrate the University of New Hampshire’s official certification as a Sea Grant College. This is indeed a rare and significant event. UNH joins only a few Universities to be bestowed in recent years with Sea Grant College status. Today is a day of celebration. I like the word celebration, because this is a celebration of accomplishment, partnership, and scientific endeavors. I am grateful to the University, to the UNH Marine Program, to the National Sea Grant Office, and to New Hampshire Sea Grant for inviting me here today. I am a strong supporter of the National Sea Grant Program and I am happy to celebrate its success. I’d like to take a moment to recognize all those who have made this event possible: the UNH and NOAA administrators, who are working together in partnership to accomplish our mission and reach our shared goals and the UNH marine researchers in all areas, who are the well-spring of the technical and intellectual advances we are celebrating today. I’d like to make a special tribute to the UNH Marine Docents and Great Bay Coast Watchers, who is a tribute to the effectiveness of an education program that spans the entire spectrum of the community. I also thank the New Hampshire Sea Grant staff, led by Ann Bucklin and Brian Doyle, whose teamwork and commitment have yielded the accomplishments we are celebrating today. This would not be possible without all of you. I know I’ve missed a few, and please accept my appreciation for all of your hard work. I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time in New Hampshire and I’m pleased to visit the University of New Hampshire today and get a sense of the impressive programs that it has. It is a great institution. I have to admit that I’m a little bit biased having spent years on the ocean - I really appreciate the coupling of the ocean and the atmosphere. Plus, my wife is a biology teacher, so I’m also into education! UNH is very impressive — it’s a Sea, Land, and Space Grant University. UNH is a leader in partnerships, and the networks of partnerships that have been created are unique. The Yankee ingenuity is certainly apparent here. We have the marriage of a great university and Sea Grant. Sea Grant is home to the Extension program with the ability to translate science to the public. That is a very important role to play both now and in the future. NOAA is proud to be a strong contributor to UNH and to the state of New Hampshire. In FY 2002, NOAA provided nearly $40 million to the state, with a large percentage going directly to UNH for mission-related activities such as geodetic survey, the Coastal Services Center, the Coastal Ocean Program and GLOBEC, remote sensing, restoration and habitat conservation, the Estuarine Research Program, Sea Grant, and others. UNH is recognized for building partnerships with other NOAA programs as well as with stakeholder groups here in the Northeast. Under the leadership of Ann Bucklin, NH Sea Grant and UNH helped create the Northeast Consortium, a regional partnership of research programs including the University of New Hampshire, University of Maine, MIT, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to support and encourage cooperative research. The Consortium teams up with fishermen to share their knowledge and lead projects to improve fisheries and coastal ocean management such as equipping commercial fishing vessels to serve as research platforms. This project utilizes commercial fishermen and vessels for fisheries-related research hand-in-hand with scientists, and provides employment for fishermen when they otherwise can’t fish due to regulations. This is just one example of the forward thinking approach that UNH, the state of New Hampshire, and their partner states and organizations are taking in order to promote the mission goals of Commerce, NOAA, and sound stewardship principles. Because Sea Grant lies at the interface of universities, environmental managers and industry, it has a unique ability to bring together representatives of these diverse communities to seek solutions to difficult problems. New Hampshire Sea Grant has done an outstanding job of connecting with its stakeholders, creating new partnerships to address marine resource issues, solving current problems, and taking advantage of new opportunities for the future. So let me talk about the future. NOAA has the mission “To understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation’s economic, social, and environmental needs.” We have reached the stage where we are required to bring the full understanding of the entire Earth science system to bear. That is what we are trying to do at NOAA. I believe strongly that NOAA should represent a strong national focus that brings together scientists, NGOs, other federal agencies, and academia so we can leave a better Earth to our children and grandchildren. How do we get there? We’ve worked over the last year and a half to build a Strategic Plan, which many here have helped to create. The Plan has four strategic themes. 1) Protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through ecosystem-based management approaches. 2) Understand climate variability and change to enhance society’s ability to plan and respond. 3) Serve society’s need for weather and water information. 4) Support the Nation’s commerce with information for safe, efficient, and environmentally sound transportation. This Strategic Plan is the first time that we have connected themes across disciplines. We can no longer focus on single discipline goals, so we have started thinking about the broader ecosystem approach. Take climate variability and change for example. This is a very big issue today and it is essential for us to understand, but what people really want to know is how it will affect them directly, right where they live. Also, weather and water information — this is a topic that will become increasingly important. We currently have a severe drought in the west and in many areas around the globe. Lastly, take commerce and transportation. That includes all the pieces that traditionally come under commerce as well as space weather and many other developing technologies. On that last point, I was glad to see that the Townsend Cromwell was in Portsmouth just the other day. I was at the commissioning ceremony in Norfolk and now it is here honing and utilizing many of the new technologies that are being developed. There was another commissioning ceremony on the same weekend that the Cromwell was commissioned in Norfolk — for the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. What people don’t realize is that she wouldn’t even be able to make it out of the channel without the data from our NOAA vessels. There are many, many other examples of how we provide a direct value to the Nation. In fact, NOAA has a direct impact on $3T of the nation’s GDP so it’s important to work together on national priorities, but those priorities are also implemented in a regional fashion — much in the same way that you are doing here in New Hampshire. If we continue to work together, I know that we can do the right thing and leave that better future for our children and for our grandchildren. Before I leave, I have to thank Senator Judd Gregg who is such a leader here in New Hampshire, and supports the kind of programs that contribute to the valuable investment that we make to the Nation’s economy. So, again, congratulations to all of you on the wonderful achievement of official Sea Grant College Status and all of the value that you provide to the community and to the Nation. Thank you. |