2021 Annual Meeting

Thank you to everyone who tuned in for SECOORA’s 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting on May 24. The meeting included a brief Board and Members business meeting and an update on SECOORA’s revised Strategic Plan. Below are highlights from the meeting.

SECOORA members influence and guide all our endeavors and help make us a trusted source for coastal ocean information in the Southeast. Quite a few new members have joined since the last Annual Meeting in May 2020 (see pictured left). There are also new designated member representatives as well (pictured right). Welcome to SECOORA!

Much of last year, SECOORA worked towards submitting our core funding proposal to US IOOS. Priorities over the next five years will focus on sustaining coastal ocean activities while expanding our observing system to include new capabilities, not only along the coastline, but also into the rivers and estuaries. There are 36 academic partners on the proposal and over 90 Letters of Support from users in the region. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed in the proposal development.

SECOORA has released a revised Strategic Plan (pictured above) that covers the years of 2021-2023. The revised plan elevates DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and SECOORA’s role in the region beyond IOOS. A working session on advancing DEI will be held at the SECOORA in-person meeting which will be hosted December 2-3, 2021 in St. Petersburg FL.

Pictured above are the Board members rotating off the SECOORA Board. 

SECOORA welcomes four new Board members.

• Institutional Member | Industry/Private Sector: Patrick Barrineau, Coastal Science & Engineering, Inc
• Institutional Member | Public Agencies/ Non-Profit/ Other Sector: Evelien VanderKloet, Ocean Tracking Network 
• At Large SC: Susan Lovelace, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium
• At Large NC: Michael Piehler, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

The  following individuals rotated off of the Board::  Jeff Copeland (WeatherFlow), Roger Pugliese (South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council), Marcel Reichert (South Carolina Department of Natural Resources). Thanks to each of you for your service to SECOORA.

Meeting Materials

• Annual Meeting Presentation (PDF)
• Agenda
• 2021 Board of Director’s Election Procedural Framework
• Conflict of Interest Policy
• Conflict of Interest Form
• Current List of SECOORA Contracts
• 2021 SECOORA Board of Directors Election- Official Ballot
  • Institutional Member | ONE Seat: Industry/Private Sector:
    • Patrick Barrineau, Coastal Science & Engineering, Inc. – CV
  • Institutional Member |ONE Seat: Public Agencies/ Non-Profit/ Other Sector:
    • Evelien VanderKloet, Ocean Tracking Network – CV
  • ONE Seat: At Large SC:
    • Susan Lovelace, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium – CV
  • ONE Seat: At Large NC:
    • Michael Piehler, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill – CV