OCEAN LECTURE SERIES

"Ocean Observing Systems for Natural Hazard Prediction and Mitigation, with a First-Hand Look at Post-Hurricane Katrina Recovery/Relief "
• Dr. Andy Clark

About the Lecture - 2006

Approximately five years ago, the U.S. government announced the goal of designing, deploying, and operating the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), a capability akin to the National Weather Service for the oceans. A Federal Interagency Office (the National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observing ? or, Ocean.US) was established by Congress to oversee this effort and staffed by experts from 15 Executive Branch agencies and some of the nation's top universities and oceanographic institutions.Ê Recognizing that such a complex system could not be undertaken by the federal government and academia alone, but would also require the expertise and capabilities found only within the U.S. industrial sector, Dr. Andy Clark, former HBOI Engineering Director and now President of HARRIS Corporation's Maritime Communication Services, was asked if he could temporarily join this multi-agency federal office in Washington, D.C. to both bring the perspective of the US private sector and to enlist their participation.

Dr. Clark will describe the IOOS, its relevance both nationally and internationally and how it will help to mitigate the impact of such natural disasters as hurricanes, tsunami, and coastal inundation.Ê Hurricane Katrina presented a coincidental - though catastrophic - nexus of the very two areas in which Andy has been immersed. As it became clear, the devastation that was to befall the U.S. Gulf Coast from this killer storm, he hastily left his Washington, D.C. post to return to HARRIS Corp in Florida to assemble the equipment, talent, and personnel that would quickly be needed to re-establish the vital communication life-lines soon to be wiped-out. Andy will share photos, video, and first-hand "lessons learned" form the recovery/relief expedition mounted in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast.

About the Speaker

Dr. Andy Clark is president and founder of HARRIS Corporation Maritime Communication Services. He is currently on loan to Ocean.US serving as Industry Liaison to assist the US Government in the development of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. His maritime career spans more than thirty years, beginning in the Gulf of Mexico's offshore oil and gas industry. Through most of the 1980's and '90s, he worked at Harbor Branch where he was Director of Engineering. This year, he was reappointed for a third term by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy to serve on the nation's Ocean Research Advisory Panel. Dr. Clark is Past President and Fellow of the Marine Technology Society, a licensed Professional Engineer, and holds a Ph.D. in Ocean Engineering from the University of Hawaii. He is a trustee on the Boards of both the Florida Institute of Technology and the Link Foundation and is a Senior Member of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society. He also serves on the National Advisory Board for the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence, the Board of Directors of the Florida Ocean Alliance, and the Technical Advisory Board of Florida's Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology. Dr. Clark was the 2003 recipient of the Lockheed Martin Medal for Science & Technology.