Map of Gulf of Mexico showing shipping lanes and Wind Energy Areas.

We’ve recently added several staff to bolster the offshore wind team at NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. With this full team of 13, our employee owners are able to provide more focused support in their areas of expertise, including mapping and spatial modeling, data collection, communications, project management, and partner engagement. Through this work, the team develops regional ecosystem-wide spatial models to inform siting of ocean use sectors, environmental review, and permitting, which provides guidance to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on suitable locations for offshore wind siting.

Sustainable coastal planning and development increases resiliency, creates jobs, reduces reliance on unsustainable imports, supports renewable energy, and grows the domestic Blue Economy. Check out the NCCOS Coastal & Marine Planning and Offshore Wind Energy spatial planning webpages to learn more.

This team is now providing spatial planning support in all U.S. ocean regions and was recently instrumental in BOEM designating two Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Mexico. As offshore wind continues to expand throughout U.S. waters, this team will continue to collaborate with BOEM to support the identification of suitable locations for renewable energy. Future work is slated for the U.S. Central Atlantic, Gulf of Maine, Oregon, and more to come!

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Developing Data and Tools to Support Offshore Wind

We have a team of staff who support offshore wind and other ocean planning efforts through two contracts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This team provides data development and management, web content management, and communication for the MarineCadastre.gov suite of products. Over several years, the team has produced, processed, and maintained nearly 300…

Open ocean

Happy World Ocean Day 

The ocean covers about 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, and life on this planet depends heavily on the ocean. We celebrate its vast being and presence each year on June 8. With CSS so heavily dedicated to Earth and environmental science, it makes sense that many CSS employee owners are deeply embedded in ocean…

Employees Receive Green Sustainability Award of Excellence

Congratulations to our team supporting the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for receiving the Green Sustainability Award of Excellence. Our team led the charge helping CDC to upgrade their spill cabinets across all campuses (Atlanta, GA; Fort Collins, CO; San Juan, PR), which now include a more sustainable material called Trivorex ®. This highly absorbent…