Archive for category: Marine, Ocean & Coastal Science & Information

Lynker employees Jamie Carter and Ross Winans recently surveyed sites in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) supporting @NOAA Digital Coast’s LIDAR validation work. In addition, they were able to acquire NGS-compliant data at several of the benchmarks that NGS needs for the Mariana Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022 (MATRF2022) – all while lugging around over 350 pounds of equipment!

They travelled to Rota, Saipan, and Tinian, hiking approximately 25 sites per island. Our work is part of the NOAA Office for Coastal Management’s Digital Coast and critically useful for restoring infrastructure and mitigating hazards.

Lidar data is commonly used and accessed for the rest of the U.S., but none existed for the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI). Local managers can now use this data to create inundation and storm surge models, shoreline maps, tsunami models and zones, and habitat maps. Additionally, this data will be used to create emergency response plans and assist many coastal resource managers, scientists, and emergency response personnel with disaster preparedness. 

Local and federal agencies had a large stake in this project, while community involvement and support was crucial throughout. NOAA, FEMA, and USDA are all heavily invested in LIDAR data, and this project enhanced their collaboration on data collection and processing. Additionally, we worked with NGS to perform quality assurance on all of the data and be compliant with their standards.

Trekking through these islands was like a large scavenger hunt to find each site, especially the ones with challenging access points and location descriptions – find the corner of the fence post (that no longer exists) and your mark to find the site will be there (but may be buried).

 

Lynker is actively engaged in bringing @NOAA Digital Coast’s Using Flood Exposure Maps webinar to a record number of participants. (Click here for more information: https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/training/flood-exposure.html)

This training connects communities with an expert to hear their experience with engaging stakeholders in discussions about hazards and risks. 

The rising costs and dangers associated with coastal flooding are motivating communities to assess the people, places, and resources at risk. NOAA Digital Coast’s Using Flood Exposure Maps webinar connects communities with experts who have used maps to engage stakeholders in discussions about local hazards and risk. At the end of the training, participants are able to recognize challenges and techniques for using these maps to facilitate productive conversations about resilience. 

The July webinar offering received a record number of registrants – 349! In comparison, over the last two years and eight webinars there have been 411 registrants total. Lynker staff worked to spread the word utilizing a variety of forms of outreach. Regional staff distributed a flyer over email, while information went out in a monthly newsletter to almost 2,500 people. 

 

Lynker scientist and ESA specialist Sarah Pautzke presented on Fishing for Energy at the Association of Pacific Ports (APP) annual conference held in Portland, OR in July 2019. Fishing for Energy is a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF.org) initiative designed to help repurpose marine debris collected voluntarily by commercial and recreational fishermen into useful, sustainable, clean energy. Fishermen deposit debris in special bins at ports, which local companies collect and process into products and/or fuel.

Ms. Pautzke described the issue with fishermen catching derelict fishing gear on the high seas, keeping it aboard while they fish to reduce the probability of it entangling their gear again or their propellers, then throwing it back over before returning to port because the ports charge disposal fees. The Hawaii Longline Fleet at Pier 38 in Honolulu worked with NOAA, Schnitzer Steel, and the Covanta waste-to-energy plant to provide a waste bin at the pier for returning fishermen. Lynker is partnering with NOAA PIRO to pursue a grant to establish the bins in San Francisco and Long Beach. Sarah made the pitch to the Port of Long Beach along with the other ports to see if other ports are interested in participating in the effort.

She also presented Lynker’s expertise to the port audience so they better understand how Lynker can fit in to their work – from biological assessments for proposed work, to grant drafting and management, to staffing.  APP members were interested in our company because we’re a new type of company to them and we’re very interested in partnering, as are they (as opposed to just selling something to them). They welcomed Lynker to their organization and asked us to return in the future.  Here’s to building new partnerships throughout the Pacific!