Meteorologist-in-Charge Jamie Bielinski addressed the roundtable in Charleston, WV in December 2019.

The valuable services NOAA provides may not be obvious to members of Congress and their staff. A multi-year effort by NOAA’s North Atlantic Regional Team (NART) is designed to address this gap.

In October, NART partnered with their Great Lakes counterparts to host a New York congressional roundtable in Buffalo, NY at the Tifft Nature Preserve. Discussion was focused on partnerships, including NOAA services enhancing resiliency for coastal communities, support for the blue economy, and the impact of weather, water and climate forecasting for local and regional decision support. Key partners in attendance included New York Sea Grant, the Northeast Regional Climate Center, the Oswego County Administrator’s Office, Erie County Office of Emergency Services, Network for Environment and Weather Applications, the NYS Department of State Ocean and Lakes Program, and the USGS New York Water Science Center.

The NART convened a second roundtable discussion in New York City in December with NY senate district staff on restoring natural resources and connections to resilience. Staff from both senate offices joined NOAA and partners to discuss the coastal resilience fund and projects to mitigate flood risk and protect and restore habitat. New York Sea Grant and the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve both talked about research, extension and engagement efforts that illustrated their local networks and applied focus. Of note was a focus on shorelines that provide ecological services in densely populated urban areas (“The mindset about what’s possible in urban watersheds is changing.”)

At a third roundtable in Charleston, West Virginia that same month, industry, local government and other Federal partners met to discuss NOAA’s role in public safety, transportation/navigation, and energy sectors with staff from the West Virginia delegation.