NOAA’s ocean observations, including those made by Drifters in the Global Drifter Program, are used in climate and weather prediction models and help us understand our changing ocean and its impact on the environment. Increasing our knowledge of patterns, trends, and the state of the global ocean can help with prediction of hurricanes, interannual events such as El Niño, and even the 10-day weather forecast. Ocean observing research also helps with maritime safety and navigation, coastal planning, farming, and the blue economy.
The Global Drifter Program (GDP) is a branch of NOAA’s Global Ocean Observing System and has two components including the Global Drifter Center at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and the Lagrangian Drifter Laboratory (LDL) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. The Global Drifter program is sponsored by the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing (GOMO) Program. The intern will work directly with multiple mentors at both AOML and GOMO giving them ample opportunities to network and connect across NOAA and beyond. The intern will contribute to the Global Drifter Program, a critical program for validating satellite sea surface temperatures, providing data during storms and hurricanes and improving weather models and forecasts. NOAA and the nation depend on the cutting-edge science provided by its research programs and laboratories like AOML and GOMO. The Global Drifter Program is essential for NOAA to achieve its goals, specifically: Serve society’s needs for weather and water information; Lead the effort to understand and monitor climate variability and change to enhance society’s ability to plan and respond.
One specific effort to make drifter science more findable and accessible to different audiences is the Adopt a Drifter Program (ADP). ADP began in December 2004 for K-16 teachers from the United States along with international educators to infuse ocean observing system data, specifically drifter data, into their curriculum. This program is a collaboration between GOMO and the Global Drifter Program/AOML. Participating teachers implement lesson plans to encourage their students to analyze and apply the drifting buoy data. Students in the teachers’ classes receive a drifter tracking chart to plot the coordinates of the drifter as it moves freely in the surface ocean currents. It is essential for ADP to provide accessible visualizations and information about Drifter and allow students to more easily make connections between the drifter data maps accessed online and other maps showing currents, winds, and other factors, though making improvements to the findability and accessibility matters for all audiences, not just educators and students. The main goal of this internship will be to help translate and communicate Drifter science and make it more findable, accessible, and relatable to different audiences and stakeholders.
Specifically the scholar will:
1. Work with the ADP team to assess current drifter science, drifter data visualizations, public data availability, and outreach materials for improvements to drifter research translation and communication.
2. Work with the ADP team to develop
- new data visualizations and new ways or resources to improve drifter science translation.
- new research focus topics for additional visualizations and materials (ex: extreme weather events).
- new research translation and outreach materials ensuring that any outreach materials targeting K-16 audiences meet NGSS, NOAA Ocean Literacy Principles, and NOAA Climate Literacy Principles.
We are willing to work with the intern to determine the best fit for them, utilizing the intern’s skills and interests for new research translation and outreach materials. This could include working on, but is not limited to, figures, visualizations, infographics, lesson plans, videos, presentations, story maps, newsletter items, and website materials.