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NOAA Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA) Conducts Outreach with NOAA Offices and Local Partners in Gulfport, MS Area

Article Provided By ORTA Team

NOAA Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA) team with NDBC site host Dr. Bill Burnett (Director) during visit on March 21, 2024) (Photo Credit: NOAA)

The NOAA Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA), including representation from the Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) and Director’s Office as well as representation from the Office of Science Support (OSS) participated in an offsite workshop from March 19-21, 2024; which included informational exchanges/briefings at various NOAA facilities in the Gulfport, MS area, as well as meetings with the following external partners:

  • Ocean Aero, Inc.
  • Mississippi Enterprise for Technology (MSET)
  • Northern Gulf Institute (NGI)
  • Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC)
  • Naval Research Laboratories

The goal of the visit was to brief and exchange information with NOAA Offices located in the Gulfport, MS area which included:

  • NOAA Ocean Exploration
  • National Ocean Service (NOS) Navigation Response Team
  • National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
  • National Seafood Inspection Laboratory (NSIL)
  • SEFSC Operations, Management and Information Division (OMI)
  • Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) SEFSC
  • Fisheries Statistics Division (FSD)
  • SEFSC Population and Ecosystem Monitoring Division (PEM)
  • SEFSC Marine Mammal and Turtle Division (MMTD)
  • National Data Buoy Center (NDBC)

This trip was designed to meet with NOAA colleagues and external partners on the ORTA mission, focusing on ORTA’s role in accelerating and facilitating the transition of research and development (R&D) within NOAA to operations, applications, commercialization, and other uses.  Additional participants from NOAA Headquarters included the OAR Office of Science Support (OSS). Over three days, ORTA was able to engage with multiple partners to encourage communication and advance innovations that will support NOAA’s mission.

Over the three days that the team was in the Gulfport, MS area, briefings were conducted during multiple sessions for both internal NOAA offices and external partners. ORTA gave an overview of the various offices and/or programs that are in its portfolio. The Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA) is located within NOAA Research.  ORTA is made up of three offices that work together to support research and development across NOAA.

  1. Director’s Office (Transition Support Team)
  2. Technology Partnerships Office (TPO)
  3. Quantitative Observing System Assessment Program (QOSAP)

The mission of ORTA, was provided in briefings, is to advance innovative research and development in support of NOAA’s mission and the US economy. ORTA’s activities include facilitating the research and development transition process with tools, resources, and personalized assistance, promoting collaboration among stakeholders, cultivating strategic partnerships, supporting NOAA’s innovative technologies, and conducting quantitative observing system assessments.

The NOAA Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) provided briefings on how it manages two unique and varied programs that include the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Technology Transfer Program. The common thread between these  two programs is the successful commercialization of innovative technologies in support of a strong and resilient U.S. economy.

Quantitative Observing System Assessment Program (QOSAP) briefed how it maintains and improves NOAA’s state-of-the-art assessment capabilities in addition to running observing systems evaluations for NOAA offices, labs, and programs. Observing system experiments (OSEs) and observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) are the primary tools used by QOSAP to conduct research for quantitative evaluations of the value of observational data on numerical weather prediction models (existing or proposed).

On Tuesday, March 19th, ORTA visited the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad (GSI) Building, beginning with an ORTA staff meeting followed by an ORTA 101 Lunch-n-Learn. During this session, ORTA offered detailed guidance on the transition plan process through an in-depth Q&A session over lunch, which also served as an excellent networking opportunity. The Lunch-n-Learn featured briefings from TPO and the Quantitative Observing System Assessment Program (QOSAP). In the afternoon, colleagues from OMAO/Uncrewed Marine Systems Division, Ocean Exploration, National Ocean Services, and National Centers for Environmental Information provided briefings and discussions on the Uncrewed Systems Ecosystem in MS. The day concluded with a visit, tour, and discussions at Ocean Aero, Inc.

ORTA visited Gulf and Ship Island Railroad (GSI) Building and started out with an ORTA Staff meeting and ORTA 101 Lunch-n-Learn (Photo Credit: NOAA)

 ORTA team visits Ocean Aero (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Ocean Aero demonstrates their environmentally powered Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicle (AUSV), theTRITON (Photo Credit: NOAA)

On Wednesday March 20, 2024 the ORTA team visited the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Mississippi Laboratories in Pascagoula, MS.

ORTA team visits NOAA/Southeast Fisheries Science Center (Photo Credit: NOAA)

The ORTA team provided an ORTA 101 session for the National Seafood Inspection Laboratory (NSIL), SEFSC Operations, Management, and Information Division (OMI), and the SEFSC Fisheries Statistics Division (FSD), SEFSC Population and Ecosystem Monitoring Division (PEM), and the SEFSC Marine Mammal and Turtle Division (MMTD).

Briefing session at Southeast Fisheries Science Center (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Following the briefings in the afternoon, the team was provided Mississippi laboratory and vessel tours that included Gear Research Branch & Gear and Vessel Support Branch and was able to tour the R/V Oregon II; and saw the R/V Southern Journey (SoJo) which were in port.

The visiting ORTA and OSS team also had the opportunity to tour NSIL, where multiple analyses of seafood quality and safety and sample testing towards the validation of the NOAA SIP’s Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Based Inspection Program are conducted.  Continued analytical testing for the program provides the inspection services for one-third of the U.S. seafood supply continues on a risk-based approach. NSIL is expanding its analytical testing in support of additional seafood commodities to meet importing country requirements for export certification.

Another area that NSIL has recently expanded is its utilization of modern analytical technology and equipment in the area of genomic testing, utilizing PCR and sequencing methods to support aquatic animal health information and other NOAA research projects.

Shannara Lynn holding an example of an aerobic count plate explaining how this is the established method for quantifying aerobic bacteria in a seafood or animal by-product sample for comparison to the automated method that NSIL currently uses for analysis of animal by-product testing for foreign export certification by SIP. 

Example of an aerobic count plate (Photo Credit: NOAA)

During the tour, Shannara Lynn discusses the automated DNA extraction instrument that is used in the analysis of ruminant testing for export certification, bacterial analysis by Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and species identification by WGS or amplicon based sequencing.

Showing automated DNA extraction instrument at NSIL (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Jeff Gearhart, the Gear and Vessel Support Branch Chief for the NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center provided a demonstration and discussion on the turtle excluder devices (TED) which has been required in the United States beginning in 1987. Jeff indicated that the southeastern shrimp fisheries—which once faced severe restrictions and closures to protect endangered sea turtles have continued to operate while saving the lives of sea turtles by using TEDs.

Jeff Gearhart provides discussion on the turtle excluder devices (TED) (Photo Credit: NOAA)

On the final day March 21, 2024 in the morning the ORTA team met with the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology (MSET) group and discussed their work.  The next site visit was to the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) for a facility tour and meeting. 

That afternoon, the team met at National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and were joined by the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC), and Naval Research Laboratories to provide a session on ORTA. That was followed by briefings from NGI, CNMOC and NRL. An open discussion on various topics as well as how we can work together culminated the meeting on our trip.

ORTA Team, NCEI, NGI, CNMOC, and NRL during briefing session (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Over the course of three days in the Gulfport area, ORTA engaged with numerous NOAA personnel, partners, and affiliates to provide detailed information on research transitions, technology transfers, the Quantitative Observing System Assessment Program, and SBIR. ORTA staff gathered valuable insights from each NOAA facility and identified synergies with external partners, laying the groundwork for expanding relationships, fostering a culture of research transition planning, and promoting innovation and collaboration to benefit NOAA’s mission areas.