ORTA: https://orta.research.noaa.gov/
Presenter(s): Panelists will include Dr. Rick Spinrad, Fiona Horsfall, Kenneth Veirra, Tabitha Huntemann, John Walker, Bryan Cole, Richard Stumpf, and Jebb Stewart
Abstract: The fireside chat on transition series will continue with a discussion on developing a transition plan. Dr. Spinrad will lead this fireside chat off by discussing the importance of accelerating transition at NOAA. The panelists will follow with a conversation on what is commonly required in a transition plan, are there communities between different types of transition plans, and where to find guidance. The fireside chat series on transitions are designed to enable participants to come away with a broader understanding of R&D transition at NOAA.
Dr. Rick Spinrad – Special Speaker
Richard (Rick) Spinrad was sworn in on June 22, 2021 as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the 11th NOAA Administrator. Dr. Spinrad is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of the agency and its over 12,000 employees, including developing NOAA’s portfolio of products and services to address the climate crisis, enhancing environmental sustainability and fostering economic development, and creating a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive NOAA workforce.
Fiona Horsfall is the Director for the Office of Research, Transition, and Application (ORTA) in NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). ORTA leverages NOAA’s R&D enterprise to serve NOAA’s mission and benefit society by accelerating and facilitating the transition of R&D within NOAA to operations, applications, commercialization, and other uses. As the director of ORTA, Fiona also oversees the Uncrewed Systems Research Transition Office (USRTO) and the Technology Partnerships Office (TPO).
Tabitha Huntemann is a program manager in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service (NWS) Office of Science and Technology Integration (OSTI). At OSTI, Tabitha coordinates the development of multi-year and multi-faceted research-to-operations plans, spanning the breadth of NWS science and technology requirements. She also manages the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system which produces severe weather, transportation, and precipitation products for the identification and short-term prediction of hazardous weather and water conditions such as tornadoes and flash floods.
Kenneth Vierra – As a Physical Oceanographer, Kenneth Vierra for over three decades has functioned both as a Program Manager and Task Leader facilitating field collections for various sponsors and projects. Acting in these roles, his responsibilities have included planning, coordination, direction, and participation in airborne, marine, and land field experiments. As a key member of the Uncrewed Systems Research Transition Office (UxSRTO) team, he enhances and amplifies the team’s capabilities, with focus on maritime/ocean remote sensing using Uncrewed Systems (UxS) unique capabilities which provide for persistent presence in designated environments. Ken supports innovative research and development (R&D) of UxS concepts and technologies and facilitates the transition plan process of technologies into operations, applications and commercialization to support NOAA’s mission.
Dr. Rick Stumpf has over thirty years of experience in coastal oceanography, with particular interest in harmful algal blooms. He develops methods to use satellite data and modeling to understand coastal eutrophication, habitat change, shallow bathymetry, and algal bloom monitoring and forecasting. He leads NOAA’s efforts to translate forecasts of harmful algal blooms from research to operations.
John Walker is an Atmospheric Scientist and “research-to-operations” (R2O) specialist working in support of NOAA’s Uncrewed Systems Research Transition Office (UxSRTO). In this, his 8th year, as a member of the office’s science assessment and R&D support team, John leverages knowledge as an FAA-certified remote pilot, coupled with previous experience in R2O applications, to help identify areas of need within NOAA in which uncrewed systems may help scientists fill data gaps and perform tasks more efficiently and/or more safely.
Jebb Q. Stewart is the lead of the Informatics and Visualization Branch with the NOAA Global System Laboratory in Boulder Colorado. With a unique background in both Meteorology and Computer Science, he has over 20 years of experience in software development for visualizing, processing, distributing, and interacting with geophysical data. Over the last couple of years, his work has expanded to machine learning applications for object identification and improving data processing capabilities along with leveraging commercial cloud capabilities to provide tools and services to efficiently explore the ever growing volumes of data.
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