Article and Figures Provided By ORTA/UxSRTO and CPO Teams
NOAA’s Climate Program Office (CPO) was established in 2005 to provide strategic guidance and oversight for the agency’s climate sciences and services program. Through integrated observations, monitoring, and data management, CPO works to understand and describe the state of the climate system, understand and predict climate variability, and improve society’s ability to plan and respond to climate change. CPO tells us what has happened, what is likely to happen, why, and with what impacts in regards to climate, providing the American public with valuable information necessary to plan and respond.
On September 12-13, 2023, the NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) gathered for a 2-day workshop to build fellowship and discuss ways to advance the new strategic plan, which is being reviewed at this time. One of the goals spelled out in the plan is strengthening the foundational science of climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation.
Ken Vierra, of NOAA’s Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA) as part of their outreach, brought his K-9 Caring Angels Therapy Dog named Ember to the event during the initial registration and coffee hour so NOAA CPO staff could meet and greet her to bring calm and joy for the start of the workshop. Ember was a huge hit, receiving pets from almost everyone in attendance!
Figure 1: Ember welcoming Wayne Higgins, LuAnn Dahlman, Brenda Rashleigh, and John Dos Passos Coggin. (Photo Credit: NOAA)
Figure 2: During one of the breaks the CPO team and Ember take a group picture (left); while Ember smiles for the camera while working in the morning at her post (right). (Photo Credit: NOAA)