Director's Office

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Dr. David M. Legler currently serves as a Chief of NOAA’s Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division. The Division is leading NOAA’s efforts to develop and sustain a global observing system for climate. Dr Legler co-chairs the Observations Program Area of the WMO-IOC Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM - http://www.jcomm.info/) and co-chairs the US Inter-agency Ocean Observation Committee (IOOC - http://www.iooc.us/).

Before coming to NOAA, Dr Legler directed the US Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR – a program of the World Climate Research Program) Office in Washington, DC for over 10 years where he coordinated scientific and programmatic activities addressing a wide range of topics including the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). He has published on a range of topics such as ocean remote sensing, air-sea interaction, and the impacts of ENSO on North American climate and subsequent effects on US agriculture and water resources.

 

 

Ocean Observing Program

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Stephen R. Piotrowicz graduated from Purdue University in 1967 with a B.S. in Chemistry.  After active duty in the United States Navy, he proceeded to the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, where he received his Ph.D. in Oceanography in 1977.  He conducted research on inorganic geochemistry from 1976 through 1992 - for two and one-half years in private industry and then at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami, Florida.  From 1992 to 2001 he served at the headquarters of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research developing and managing climate research programs and ocean observing systems.  He served as Deputy Director for the U.S. National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observations from 2001 to 2008.  Presently he is a Program Manager in NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Climate Program Office, Climate Observation Division with primary responsibility is for the U.S. component of the International Argo Profiling Float Program and is the U.S. Technical Expert for the U.S. delegation to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s Advisory Body of Experts on the Law of the Sea. 

 

Emily.a.Smith@noaa.gov

 

Emily Smith received her doctorate in Oceanography from Louisiana State University in 2014, specializing in harmful algae. Before returning to graduate school, Emily spent several years as a middle school science teacher.  After graduate school she was accepted as a Knauss Fellow in the Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division as a Communication and Outreach Specialist focusing on developing a communication plan and strengthening relationships between labs, cooperative institutes, and headquarters. Emily is now a program manager and communications lead for OOM.  Her portfolio includes the Tide Gauge Stations and Sea Level Rise Center in Hawaii. 

Sidney Thurston has a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography and over 30 years experience in engineering and science Project Management, serving in both the private and public sectors.  Working with Rockwell International’s Advanced Satellite Systems Division during the 1980s, he contributed to the design of the “Strategic Defensive Initiative” satellite constellation.  After completing graduate degrees in Oceanography, he joined NOAA’s Office of Global Programs (OGP) in 1995.  While residing in Japan during the next six years, he conducted wave research with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (STA) while coordinating NOAA’s ocean climate observations with Asian Partners. He currently works for NOAA’s Global Ocean-Climate Observation Program on Overseas Program Development building Robust PANGEA Resource-Sharing Partnerships.  Dr. Thurston serves the Community as Chair of the WMO/IOC Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (DBCP) Task Team for Capacity Building as a member of the DBCP Executive Committee, serves as NOAA’s representative to the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS) and CLIVAR Indian Ocean Panel.   Dr. Thurston is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the U.S. National Engineering Honor Society, and Sigma Xi, National Scientific Research Honor Society.  Outside areas of interest include bicycling, scuba diving and international travel with his wife and three children.

 

LCDR Raymond was appointed into the NOAA Corps in 2006 and has completed two sea assignments and three land assignments. Her first sea assignment was aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, a hydrographic survey vessel. Her first land assignment was Expedition Operations Leader, located at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography. This assignment enabled her to work with and sail on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, which prepared her to fill the role of Operations Officer on this same vessel during her second sea tour. LCDR Raymond then worked at OMAO Headquarters as Flag Secretary before reporting to the Program Coordination Office (PCO) as OMAO Program Coordination Officer.  She is currently the Operations Manager for the Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division in the Climate Program Office.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Sciences from the University of Maine.

James Todd
Program Manager,OceanSITES
1315 East West Highway, #2460 Silver Spring, MD  20910-5603
Tel: 301 734-1258
james.todd@noaa.gov

Jim joins the OOM family after 28-years in NOAA/OAR, first entering OAR in the Program Development and Coordination Office in 1988 and then moving to the Office of Global Programs, now Climate Program Office (CPO), in 1990. During his tenure in NOAA/OAR, Jim co-developed and managed the Ocean-Atmosphere Carbon Exchange Study (OACES) program and then developed and managed the CLIVAR Atlantic and Climate Variability and Predictability (CVP) programs in CPO. In addition, Jim managed the Abrupt Climate Change Studies (ARCHES) program for several years. Over his tenure, Jim has managed programs that have contributed to the Joint Global Ocean Flux (JGOFS) Program of the IGBP and the World Ocean Circulation (WOCE) and Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) Programs of the WCRP. This has included management contributions to major oceanographic process studies including the US JGOFS Equatorial Pacific (EqPac) Process Study and most recently the Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) field campaign.

Prior to joining NOAA, Jim was a sea-going chemical oceanographer with expertise using natural occurring radionuclides (including radium-226, radium-228, radon-222, lead-210, polonium-210 and beryllium-7) in the study of oceanic processes. Jim says perhaps his most memorable experience in NOAA was diving in DSV Alvin to the Juan de Fuca Ridge, where he sampled radionuclides emanating from the hydrothermal vents. A Virginia lad at heart, Jim received his B.S. in Biology from James Madison University (1978) in Harrisonburg, VA and a Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from Old Dominion University (1984) in Norfolk, VA after which he was a postdoctoral fellow/research assistant professor at the University of South Carolina until 1988.

Monitoring Program

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Jennifer Saleem Arrigo

Program Manager

1315 East West Highway, #2818

Silver Spring, MD 20910-5603

Tel: 301 427-2488

Jennifer.Saleemarrigo@noaa.gov

 

Jennifer Saleem Arrigo received her PhD in geography from Boston University in 2005, specializing in statistics and hydroclimatology. Her dissertation work focused on observational analyses of soil moisture - precipitation feedbacks and spatial scaling characteristics of soil moisture - outflow relationships, primarily in the American midwest. She spent 5 years as an assistant professor of atmospheric science at East Carolina University, and three years as a program manager and then deputy director of the non-profit university consortium, Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc (CUAHSI), where she led efforts around community hydrologic modeling, data and informatics, and hydrology outreach and education. Within OOM, Jennifer manages the Monitoring program, serves as a data management liaison for the division, and is part of the USGCRP Indicators Interagency working group. 

Dr. Mathis has been working in the Arctic for the past 12 years and is an expert on carbon cycle processes and ocean acidification. Before joining NOAA in 2012, he served on the faculty and was the founding director of the Ocean Acidification Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.Dr. Mathis has led numerous field campaigns in the Arctic and has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles on his research.  He has served as the Arctic lead for the North American Carbon Program and is co-chair of the Ocean Carbon Biogeochemistry Ocean Acidification subcommittee.

As Director of the Arctic Research Program, Dr Mathis will provide guidance and mission leadership of OOM’s Arctic activities. He will also provide strategic leadership for OAR’s Arctic research activities and contribute leadership towards NOAA’s Arctic Science enterprise.

 

Sandy Starkweather has a joint background in engineering (renewable energy systems) and earth science (Arctic climatology). She has worked in a consulting engineering capacity, university research, project management and planning. During this time, she spent twelve years traveling to/from Greenland to either participate in or support Arctic field research. Today, she combines these experiences to advance collaboration among independently funded, flagship Arctic observatories for the IASOA (http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/iasoa/) consortium and to advance the implementation of the U.S. Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee's (IARPC) Five Year Plan for Arctic Research. She has a strong interest in improving the effectiveness of the Arctic research enterprise, particularly in situ observational research, through building stronger collaborations among all parties who benefit from sustained Arctic observing, from researchers through information and service end-users. She is currently pursuing a certificate in Science and Technology Policy Research to better understand and evaluate the institutional dimensions of the science-public interface.

 

 

Monique Baskin received her MA in International Affairs with a focus on Environmental issues and graduate certificate in Environmental Health, Science and Policy from The George Washington University in 2016. Before joining the Arctic Research Program as a Knauss fellow, she spent 12 years in the United States Air Force were she had a variety of roles to include: commanding and maintaining a nuclear weapon system, managing an$800K morale and welfare budget and planning and executing over 100 high ranking US military, civilian and foreign dignitary events to include Former President Reagan’s funeral. As an Ocean Acidification Specialist in ARP, she is responsible for coordinating with other scientists in the research group and providing specific input and data products for describing the impacts of ocean acidification in the U.S. Arctic, particularly Alaska and coordinate with others in the Climate Program Office (CPO) on Arctic initiatives. She will also be in charge of continuing to provide inputs to the Arctic Council through AMAP with regard to OA risk assessments in the Arctic.

 

 

Atmospheric Climate Observation Program

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Dr. Howard J. Diamond is a Climate Scientist and Program Manager who works for NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information but has worked in and with the Climate Observation Division since 2007, and has also worked at NOAA in a variety of roles since 1981.  Most recently, he received his PhD in Geography and Environmental Science from the University of Auckland in New Zealand in 2014.  In addition to his role as the Program Manager for the U.S. Climate Reference Network program (http://www.ncdcd.noaa.gov/crn), he also serves as the U.S. National Coordinator for the Global Climate Observing System (http://www.gosic.org/gcos/USGCOS.html) as well as the Director of the World Data Center for Meteorology (http://www.gosic.org/wdcmet), and in addition to climate observing, he also is involved in related climate data management work with a particular area of expertise in the Pacific Islands region of the world.  He is also very much involved in helping a wide variety of users by answering climate data questions for a wide variety of users on behalf of CPO's NOAA Climate Portal at https://www.climate.gov/.  The emphasis of his climate science research is focused on the Southern Hemisphere with several published papers on tropical cyclone climatology in the southwest Pacific, and recently, he has begun investigating the issue of sea ice extent in Antarctica.  His personal research site can be found at  http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu/projects/speartc/.