Last month you heard from our new Executive Director Chris Ostrander. Let me also welcome him aboard. With Chris’ background I am confident he is the right individual to lead MTS as we navigate in new directions. Thank you to Justin Manley, President Elect, who led the extensive selection process.   Justin convened the first panel made up of a subset of the Board and Kristina Norman (acting Director during the interim) to down select the candidates to the top three. The top three candidates then interviewed with a panel comprised of Justin, Kristina and the remainder of the Board. Kristina led the interview of each of the candidates with the MTS HQ team. The top three candidates had one-on-one interviews with three MTS members in leadership positions. Thank you to Laurie Jugan, Fernando Hernandez and Larry Hagstrom for their assistances. The full board then reviewed the results of the 2 panels, the staff interviews, and the one-on-one interviews. The board did not come to a decision as all of the candidates were highly competitive. The board prepared an additional set of topics to discuss with the candidates. To address the topics, Justin conducted another conversation with each of the candidates.  Justin also talked with 3 references for each candidate – a superior, a peer and a subordinate.  The board met a second time and, after considering all the information, selected Chris.  My sincere appreciation to the highly competitive candidates who applied; Justin’s leadership; and the efforts of Kristina, the Board, Laurie, Fernando and Larry.   

Over the past few years SUT and MTS have begun work to strengthen our collaboration with the goal of enhancing services and benefits to our members. You’ve likely seen the early outcomes of that collaboration—shared publications between the Societies, offering of professional certifications for marine technologists and marine scientists, and launch of the joint Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration. 

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, have opened the 2022-2024 Application Cycle, the Environmental Protection and Stewardship track goal focuses on advancing scientific knowledge and its application to predict and prepare for ecosystem changes in the Gulf of Mexico and its coastal zones as the region navigates a changing climate and energy transition. The Gulf Research Program’s Early-Career Research Fellowship supports emerging scientific leaders by providing relatively unrestricted funds as they take risks on research ideas not yet tested, pursue unique collaborations, and build a network of colleagues who share their interest in improving the well-being of the Gulf of Mexico region.

Fellowship Benefits: An award of $76,000 is paid to each fellow’s institution in the form of a two-year grant. Funds cannot be used on institutional overhead or indirect charges. Research funding: $75,000 is available for the fellow to use for research-related expenses, including equipment purchases, professional travel, professional development courses, trainee support, salary, or any other costs directly related to the fellow’s research. Mentor honorarium: The remaining $1,000 of the award serves as an honorarium for a mentor. Applicants must identify a senior-level researcher at their affiliated institution willing to serve as a career mentor. 

Applications must be submitted by 5:00 PM ET May 4, 2022

MORE INFO & APPLY HERE

There are four positions open for the 2022 MTS Board Elections: President-Elect, Vice President of Early Career Ocean Professionals, Vice President of Education, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs. MTS members may nominate candidates for the open positions through 11:59 p.m. EST on June 15, 2022. 

 The series kicked off with a focus on “Shipping Decarbonization” on March 30 from 11 am – 12 pm (EDT), featuring Andrew Moffat, Office of Global Change, U.S. Department of State; Natalia Mykhalova, Co-founder and CEO of WeavAir; and David Cummins, President of the Blue Sky Maritime Coalition. Dain Dunston once again emceed the webcast.