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COSEE-TEK hosts inaugural External Advisory Committee Meeting - 03.17.2011

On March 2, 2011 COSEE-TEK held the first meeting of its External Advisory Committee (EAC) at the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus. The EAC is a required structural element of COSEE’s and is intended to:

“act as "sounding boards" for ideas, priorities, problems within Centers. They push Centers to excel and look for new opportunities to expand their reach and/or capacity. External Advisory Committees nominally provide annual reports to COSEE Program Managers at the National Science Foundation.”

Furthermore the structure of COSEE-TEK’s EAC reflects the principal constituency that the Center seeks to serve: 1) the researchers and technologists, 2) formal educators and 3) informal educators. Four EAC members attended the entire meeting, one via teleconference in the afternoon, with one unexpected absentee. The current members of COSEE-TEK’s EAC and their subject area are listed in the table below.

Advisor

Institution

Subject Area
Patricia Grondin Norwich School District Formal Education
Michael O'Connor Waterford High School Formal Education
Jill Zande Marine Advanced Technology and Education Informal Education
William Murrain National Association of Black Scuba Divers Informal Education
Raymond Highsmith National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology Researcher
Hanumant Singh Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Researcher
COSEE-TEK Advisory Board Meeting Participants
COSEE-TEK Team and EAC Members: L to R – Kevin Joy, COSEE; Mike O’Connor, EAC; Pat Grondin, EAC; Diana Payne, COSEE; Melissa Ryan, COSEE; Kelly Matis, COSEE; Ray Highsmith, EAC; Lauren Rader, COSEE; Ivar Babb, COSEE; Bill Murrain, EAC; Mike McKee, COSEE (Not pictured)

Since this was the first meeting of the Committee, the morning through lunch of the day-long meeting focused on providing a background and status report on the proposed activities of COSEE-TEK as well as additional partnership activities under development. The meeting began with an overview of the COSEE program and network provided by Gail Scowcroft, Executive Director, COSEE Central Coordinating Office. The luncheon featured a welcome from UConn’s Head of the Department of Marine Sciences (DMS), Ann Bucklin, followed by brief presentations by the Senior Researchers on COSEE-TEK from UConn’s DMS.

UConn Researcher Research Area Technologies
Heidi Dierssen Ocean color, Fish camouflage Satellite remote sensing, polarized light
Jim O’Donnell Physical Oceanography & Modeling Ocean observatories, gliders
Evan Ward Bivalve physiology Endoscopes

The afternoon was spent in an open discussion of issues, challenges and opportunities with members of the COSEE-TEK team and EAC. Many positive suggestions and critiques were provided to guide the Center in the near and longer-term. The day ended with a tour of UConn’s Underwater Vehicles and Fluid Dynamics Laboratories.

The EAC will be convened four times a year, once in person, the others conducted via a video or phone conference. The next meeting will be held in June, 2011.

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