Director's Office

Carl Gouldman, Director (Federal)
Email: carl.gouldman@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9454
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Implementation of the ICOOS Act
  • NOAA representative to the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee (IOOC)
  • U.S. Representative and Chair to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) Regional Alliances Council
  • National Ocean Service senior lead for NOAA Water team
  • Congressional visits and legislative engagement

Krisa Arzayus, Ph.D., Deputy Director (Federal)
Email: krisa.arzayus@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9455
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Compliance with NOS guidelines and policies (e.g. safety, awards, IT, personnel)
  • Oversee program office Risk Management
  • Designated Federal Official (DFO) for the IOOS Federal Advisory Committee
  • Pay Pool Manager for the IOOS CAPS Paypool
  • Program Planning and Execution

Laura (Griesbauer) Gewain, Executive Assistant to the Director (ISS)
Email: laura.gewain@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9456
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Director's and Deputy Director's calendars
  • Director and Deputy Director travel
  • Director and Deputy Director correspondence
  • Staff support to the Director for International Activities, GOOS, and AmeriGEOSS
  • Manage IOOS Social Media channels
  • Staff support to Director and Deputy projects
  • Special projects as assigned by the Director and Deputy

Sarah Nickford, Ph.D., IOOS Ocean Science and Technology Partnership Fellow (Sea Grant)
Email: sarah.nickford@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 653-9162
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Assists with IOOS New Blue Economy initiatives
  • Supports IOOS Inflation Reduction Act projects
  • Executive secretary for the NOS Water Team
  • Member of the Benefits of Ocean Observing Catalog (BOOC) development team
  • Project support for the Ocean Enterprise Study
  • Support for hurricane glider mission
  • Supports the Environmental Information Services Working Group (EISWG)
  • Supports IOOS in the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) Regional Alliance Council
  • Office co-lead for data call response and tracking

Amira Ofosu-Garrison, Office Manager (ISS)
Email: amira.ofosu-garrison@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 649-0844
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Information and Federal Records Management
  • IOOS meeting coordination and support
  • Travel Planning
  • IT Coordination
  • Safety and Facilities Management

Ralph Rayner, U.S. IOOS Industry Liaison (London School of Economics) (Consultant)
Email: ralph@ralphrayner.com
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Project Lead for Benefits of Ocean Observing Catalog (BOOC)
  • Project support for the Ocean Enterprise Study
  • Global Partnerships, connecting IOOS with GeoBlue Planet, Copernicus, IMOS, etc.

[vacant], Strategic Planning Manager (Federal)
Email: Tel:
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Lead IOOS strategic planning
  • Lead IOOS program and process improvement
  • NOS representative to NOAA Observing System Committee

[vacant], Equity, Partnerships, and Service Delivery Lead (Federal)
Email: Tel:
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Inflation Reduction Act implementation support through Regional Association and partner engagement
  • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA) planning and implementation
  • Coordination of IOOS program with NOAA and other national DEIJA initiatives

[vacant], Senior Advisor for Coastal Modeling Science and Services (Federal)
Email: Tel:
Programmatic Responsibilities:

Operations Division

Derrick Snowden, Division Chief (Federal)
Email: derrick.snowden@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9467
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Lead the Operations Division's efforts to establish and maintain the national IOOS system
  • Overall lead for DMAC design and implementation activities including regional implementation and national coordination agreements

Operations, Data and Products Unit

Becky Baltes, Branch Chief (Federal)
Email: becky.baltes@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9469
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Provide oversight and management of the Data and Products Branch
  • Oversee Marine Life and Data Management and Cyberinfrastructure programs which plan and manage projects to collect and disseminate physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic data
  • Support IOOS office strategic planning, and program and process improvement
  • NOS representative to NOAA Observing System Committee

Mathew Biddle, Data Management Analyst (Federal)
Email: mathew.biddle@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9470
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • IOOS POC for NCEI data archival
  • Marine Life DMAC lead
  • DMAC Community Manager
  • IOOS products and services analytics and outreach

Laura Brenskelle, Ph.D., Physical Scientist, Data Management and Product Development (ISS)
Email: laura.brenskelle@noaa.gov Tel: (828) 419-1121
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Data standardization for various biological observing methods
  • Engagement with the Regional Associations, MBON, and Animal Telemetry Network (ATN) communities
  • DMAC project support

Gabrielle Canonico, Marine Life Program Manager (Federal)
Email: gabrielle.canonico@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9452
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Marine Life Program Manager
  • Federal coordinator, U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)
  • Co-lead, National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy
  • Co-Chair, SOST Biodiversity Interagency Working Group

Thomas Hutchins, Software Engineer (ISS)
Email: thomas.hutchins@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 573-8548
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Software engineering support for National DMAC implementation and cloud data services
  • Architecture and testing support for the HFRNet migration project

Connie Kot, Marine Life Program Coordinator/Animal Telemetry Network Coordinator (Federal)
Email: connie.kot@noaa.gov Tel: (301) 388-8031
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Coordinate the implementation of the Marine Life Program and Animal Telemetry Network (ATN)
  • Manage the development of the ATN Data Assembly Center (DAC)
  • Support observing living marine resources to monitor ecosystem function and change

Hassan Moustahfid, Ph.D., Senior Marine Biologist (Federal)
Email: hassan.moustahfid@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9468
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Provide scientific advice and guidance to IOOS Programs with a primary focus on serving as the scientific and technical POC for marine biological and ecosystem programs
  • Facilitate partnership building between biological and ecosystem programs in NOS, NOAA, the Regional Associations, the larger IOOS Enterprise, and international partners
  • Co-lead the development of emerging Fishing Vessels Based Observation Network (FVON)
  • Serve in NOS Science Board, NOAA Ecosystem Indicators Working Group (EIWG), NOAA Climate Ecosystem and Fisheries Initiative (Data Portal and Research Obs implementation teams), NOAA Marine CDR and Interagency CDR Task Force, NOS Water level AI WG, NOAA AI Executive Committee and NOS AI WG, NOAA GeoBlue Planet WG
  • Build partnerships and coalitions to advance and promote emerging technologies (such as AI, Biomolecular, and advanced acoustic technologies). Serve in OceanVisionAI and OBON Advisory Committees
  • Lead the development of Ecological Forecasting Cyberinfrastructure within RAs and NOAA
  • International engagement representing NOS/NOAA and US: Provide advice and scientific expertise to US DOS POD Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, serve in ICES Working Groups (WGMLEARN, WGCEPH), Co-Chair the UN Ocean Decade Task Force for the Implementation of UN Ocean Decade Africa RoadMap, Chair Blue Belt Initiative Scientific Committee

Micah Wengren, Physical Scientist & Data Manager (Federal)
Email: micah.wengren@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9441
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • DMAC System Architect: Manage the IOOS Data Management and Cyberinfrastructure Program and DMAC Community of Practice, including regional data manager engagement, annual meetings/code sprints, and technology/communication platforms like IOOS GitHub, ioos_tech forum, Google Summer of Code, and Slack workspace
  • Manage National-scale DMAC cloud cyberinfrastructure and data management implementation with support from IOOS’ partners
  • Functional POC for cloud computing, cloud data management, and geospatial/GIS activities
  • NOAA Data Governance Committee workgroup representative: NOAA Catalog, NOAA Enterprise Metadata, and Open Geospatial Consortium

[vacant], DMAC Program Coordinator (Federal)
Email: Tel:
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Coordinates Data Management and Cyberinfrastructure (DMAC) planning, budgets, and activities
  • Supports DMAC team in project management, RA certification, stakeholder engagement, and technical coordination

Operations, Observing and Prediction Unit

Kathleen Bailey, [Title] (Federal)
Email: kathleen.bailey@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9449
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Tracking flow of data through various elements of the DMAC system (Regional Data Assembly Centers, IOOS Catalog, NDBC, CO-OPS)
  • DMAC Implementation and user engagement
  • Lead for the Glider Program
  • IOOS Member of the QARTOD Board of Advisors
  • DMAC lead for Regional Association Certification

Zack Baize, Ocean Enterprise/New Blue Economy Program Manager (Federal)
Email: zack.baize@noaa.gov
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Support NOS New Blue Economy activities
  • Project Lead for IRA funding activities associated with Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerators
  • Support NOAA environmental economics activities and ocean enterprise studies

LCDR Aaron Colohan, NOAA Corps (Federal)
Email: aaron.d.colohan@noaa.gov Tel: (251) 207-1020
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Assistant lead for the Glider Program
  • IOOS Acquisitions Officer
  • Inflation Reduction Act Request for Applications point of contact for IOOS
  • Property Accountability Officer

Tracy Fanara, Ph.D., NOS Coastal Modeling Portfolio Manager (Federal)
Email: tracy.fanara@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9461
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Program Manager for the IOOS Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed
  • Manage the development of operational coastal models across NOS program offices
  • Stakeholder management for coastal ocean modeling and product development

Michael Lalime, NOS Coastal Cloud Sandbox Project Manager (ISS)
Email: michael.lalime@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 964-1232
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Supports IOOS coastal modeling cloud sandbox development and testing
  • Stakeholder outreach planning and engagement for coastal ocean modeling
  • Project management support for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Coastal modeling projects

Sarina Mann, Physical Scientist & Project Management Support (ISS)
Email: sarina.mann@noaa.gov Tel: (301) 569-2089
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Provide project management support for the DMAC portfolio including:
    • HFRNet migration to the NESDIS Common Cloud Framework
    • IOOS Catalog
    • IOOS Glider DAC
    • QARTOD

Tiffany C. Vance, Ph.D., Ocean Technology Transition, HABs and Cloud Sandbox Programs/Projects Manager (Federal)
Email: tiffany.c.vance@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9445
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Ocean Technology Transition (OTT) Program Manager
  • HAB Program Manager
  • Technical project manager for the IOOS cloud computing sandbox for ocean models
  • Functional POC for geospatial, cloud computing, and GIS activities
  • IOOS co-lead for biogeochemical, ocean acidification, and HAB related data
  • Project manager for IOOS/Axiom activities
  • Transition Manager for the Pacific Northwest HAB Bulletin and IOOS representative to the HAB Tech Team and the Ecosystem Forecasting Roadmap All Tech Team
  • DMAC implementation and architecture

Breanna Vanderplow, Ph.D., Physical Scientist, Service Delivery of Ocean Prediction (ISS)
Email: breanna.vanderplow@noaa.gov Tel: (410) 541-6446
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Act as a liaison to support modeling efforts of the Regional Associations
  • Facilitate community modeling and use of a cloud modeling platform to improve model code transitions
  • Support the Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed Program by engaging PIs and NOS points of contact, and organizing annual meetings, merit review panels, and workshops
  • Support the NOS Modeling Portfolio Manager in managing products for data acquisition of coastal model forcings, visualization and dissemination of model output, task management, and organization of open source code repositories
  • Plan and execute communications and outreach strategies for stakeholder engagement and cross-NOAA coordination
  • Support the IOOS-led Hurricane Glider program through tracking and reporting storms and participating in glider-model data assimilation and comparison efforts
  • Assist in managing technical issues and new layer implementations into the IOOS Oceans Map
  • Serve as a water level and waves project liaison facilitating data flow to models

Brian Zelenke, Surface Currents Program Manager (Federal)
Email: brian.zelenke@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9440
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Program and Technical Lead for the U.S. HF-Radar network
  • Stakeholder management for coastal circulation observing and product development
  • Point of Contact for offshore wind energy and radio frequency allocation issues
  • Manage the HF-Radar Data Assembly Center
  • Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

[vacant], QARTOD National Coordinator
Email:
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • IOOS Point of Contact for Quality Assurance/Quality Control of Real Time Ocean Data (QARTOD)

Regions, Budget, and Policy Division

LCDR Aaron Colohan, NOAA Corps, Division Chief (Acting) (Federal)
Email: aaron.d.colohan@noaa.gov Tel: (251) 207-1020

Dave Easter, Division Chief (Federal)
Email: dave.easter@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9453
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • U.S. IOOS implementation and program development
  • IOOS Regional Coordination
  • IOOS business manager

Kate Culpepper, Communications Specialist (Federal)
Email: kate.culpepper@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9457
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Communications (e.g., press releases, media events, outreach materials)
  • Education & outreach activities
  • Coordination with NOAA Public Affairs, NOS Communications and Education Division, IOOS Association Education and Outreach Council, and external communications contacts

Nicholas Dawson, Program Analyst for Grants and Regional Coordination (ISS)
Email: nick.dawson@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 367-4148
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Supporting the administration of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law cooperative agreements
  • Coordinating efforts and fostering relationships with the IOOS Regions, IOOS Association, interagency partners
  • Assisting with coordination of observing system assets with partners

Becca Derex, Legislative Affairs Lead (Federal)
Email: becca.derex@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9462
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Legislative Affairs
  • Budget Formulation Lead
  • Programmatic support to the U.S. IOOS Advisory Committee
  • Supports reporting as required by the ICOOS Act

Courtney Edwards, Regional Coordination and Advisory Committee Support (ISS)
Email: courtney.edwards@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 936-5742
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Regional Association Bipartisan Infrastructure Law project coordination and tracking
  • Support U.S. IOOS Advisory Committee
  • Support administration of IOOS cooperative agreements and RCOS certification

Alejandra Enriquez, Environmental Compliance Program Analyst (ISS)
Email: alejandra.enriquez@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 936-5840
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Supporting the administration of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law cooperative agreements
  • Coordinating efforts and fostering relationships with the IOOS Regions, IOOS Association, interagency partners
  • Assisting with coordination of observing system assets with partners
  • Environmental compliance support

Susan Fox, Regional Coordinator (Federal)
Email: susan.fox@noaa.gov Tel: (843) 481-0288
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Lead for Regional Association coordination for GCOOS, GLOS, NANOOS, PacIOOS, and SECOORA
  • Monitor and provide technical oversight of Regional Association cooperative agreements
  • Coordinate NOAA to Regional Association engagement

Justin Franks, Webmaster (ISS) (Consultant)
Email: justin.franks@noaa.gov
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Assist with web site maintenance, issues, and updates
  • Collaborate with Communications team to add new site content
  • Ensure functionality and efficiency of site

Rosa González, Environmental Compliance Coordinator (Federal)
Email: rosa.gonzalez@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 621-1911
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Coordinates with staff environmental compliance reviews for IOOS authorized, funded, and conducted activities

Rhyan Grech, Program Analyst for Regional Coordination (ISS)
Email: rhyan.grech@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 639-8656
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Regional Association Inflation Reduction Act project coordination and tracking
  • Support NOAA to Regional Association engagement
  • Support communications

Maria Murray, Regional Coordinator (Federal)
Email: maria.murray@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 936-6114
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Lead for Regional Association coordination for AOOS, CARICOOS, CeNCOOS, MARACOOS, NERACOOS, SCCOOS
  • Monitor and provide technical oversight of Regional Association cooperative agreements
  • Coordinate NOAA to Regional Association engagement

Mary Solokas, Program Management Support (ISS)
Email: mary.solokas@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 964-1193
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Supports IOOS program and process improvement
  • Supports IOOS office strategic planning, including implementation and metrics and milestone tracking
  • Supports the Hurricane Glider Program
  • Office co-lead for data call response and tracking

RB&P, Business Unit

Kelly Jasion, Business Branch Chief (Federal)
Email: kelly.jasion@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 533-9465
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Lead for budget execution and financial management
  • Human Resources Liaison, coordinates hiring actions
  • Manages transfers and receipt of funds to other NOAA offices

Jennifer Hinden, Grants and Contracts Manager (Federal)
Email: jennifer.hinden@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 936-5991
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Federal Acquisition Certification Contracting Officer Representative
  • Grant management and cooperative agreements
  • Trusted Agent
  • Manage Inter-agency Agreements and Memorandums of Understanding

Charmaine Jones, Financial Management Specialist (Federal)
Email: charmaine.jones@noaa.gov Tel: (202) 936-5387
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Budget execution and financial management
  • Lead for transfers and receipt of funds to and from other NOAA offices
  • Travel budget approver

Izella Murry, Program Analyst (ISS)
Email: izella.murry@noaa.gov Tel: (305) 699-5124
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Grant management and cooperative agreement administrative support
  • Support office evaluation activities

Ali Sanjabi, Financial Management Specialist (Federal)
Email: ali.sanjabi@noaa.gov Tel: (240) 624-0649
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Support budget execution and financial management
  • Support human resources
  • Lead office travel and training budget planning and tracking

[vacant], Grants Management Specialist (Federal)
Email: Tel:
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Grant management and cooperative agreements
  • Manage Inter-agency Agreements and Memorandums of Understanding
  • Procurement

[vacant], Grants Management Specialist (Federal)
Email:
Programmatic Responsibilities:

  • Grant management and cooperative agreements
  • Support Inter-agency Agreements and Memorandums of Understanding
  • Support office evaluation activities