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Contact:
Anson
Franklin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
202-482-6090
Sept. 23, 2008 NOAA
Administrator Announces Resignation Retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad
C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and
atmosphere and NOAA administrator, today announced his resignation,
effective Oct. 31. Lautenbacher served as NOAA?s eighth Administrator for
nearly seven years. Under Lautenbacher?s leadership,
NOAA was instrumental in the creation of the Papahanoumokuakea Marine
National Monument, the second largest area in the world dedicated to
marine preservation. Lautenbacher contributed to the President?s landmark
Ocean Initiative and worked with Congress to pass the Magnuson-Stevens Act
reauthorization, which requires overfishing end by
2011. In the international arena,
Lautenbacher has led U.S. efforts to create a Global Earth Observation
System of Systems (GEOSS), an effort that has been joined by more than 70
countries and 50 international organizations. Following the disastrous
Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, Lautenbacher led the development of a
tsunami warning system in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and pushed
for better warning capabilities in the Indian Ocean. ?I am most grateful for your
leadership and offer my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to you and as
well to NOAA?s dedicated career force that has made all of these and many
more achievements possible,? Lautenbacher said in a letter to President
Bush. ?While I have both enjoyed my tenure and been proud to serve, it is
time to make room for those who will follow and build on the legacy of
NOAA created by this Administration.? Other significant
accomplishments during Lautenbacher?s tenure
include: ·
Development of the National
Integrated Drought Information System ·
Creation of NOAA?s Aquaculture
Program ·
Advancements in climate science
including creating the Climate Change Science Program, CarbonTracker and
Air Quality Ozone Forecasts ·
Introducing ?storm-based?
warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash
floods ·
Implementation of a new
hurricane weather research and forecast system ·
Initiating NOAA?s Unmanned
Aerial Systems program ·
Commenced new investments in new
Multifunction Phased Array Radar ·
Installation of numerous
Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems (PORTS®) around the
country ·
Launched three satellites and
managed the development of next generation of satellite
systems. ·
Commissioned eight new ships
into the NOAA fleet,including four acoustically quiet fisheries survey
vessels and the Okeanos Explorer, the first U.S. ship dedicated to
exploration ·
Establishment of the Integrated
Ocean Observing System NOAA understands and predicts
changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the
surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine
resources. Visit http://www.noaa.gov. ### |
