NOAA in Service: Learning and Giving Back

NOAA’s mission of Science, Service, and Stewardship includes data and products NOAA creates for the nation’s benefit. NOAA staff are finding ways to broaden that definition of “service” to include time, energy, and vested interest in the communities NOAA serves. The Regional Collaboration Network’s Climate and Equity Roundtables and Pilots exemplify this expanded definition of “service” by connecting with underserved and vulnerable communities, understanding their needs, and delivering enhanced services of specific value to them. These efforts directly support one priority of the NOAA’s Strategic Plan: to make equity central to NOAA’s mission and ensuring the needs of the nation’s underserved and vulnerable communities are met.  

NOAA’s Regional Collaboration Network values building relationships, working with community identified trusted leaders and organizations, and conveying the importance of these partnerships to others. We encourage NOAA employees to expand this NOAA in Service initiative and incorporate service events into their official duties. NOAA in Service engagements are supported by NOAA’s education and outreach policy (NAO 216-106A: NOAA Education and Outreach Policy) and aim to collaborate with community-based organizations that are trusted by community members, have a deep understanding of their community’s needs, and can help identify opportunities for NOAA to support them.

Read about some of the recent NOAA in Service events led by the NOAA Regional Collaboration Network:

  • September 2023 North Atlantic Regional Collaboration Annual Team Meeting, Scituate, MA
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The North Atlantic Regional Collaboration Team participated in a beach cleanup event. All trash picked up was prevented from going back into the ocean. One of the team members is a marine debris expert so it was also a great learning experience for the rest of NOAA’s staff.​​​​​
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The North Atlantic Team also organized a NOAA in Service event with Falmouth Service Center (FSC). This multi-service agency covers a wide range of needs, including food security. A major component of the program is an extensive food pantry that residents/clients may visit once every week as needed. Since 1983, FSC, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, has worked to educate, support, and improve the quality of life of Upper Cape residents in need. NOAA staff participated in light landscaping and debris removal on the Center’s property and established important connections with this local community member. ​​​​​​
  • June 2023 West and Central Regional Collaboration Teams Joint Meeting, La Jolla, CA
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NOAA Central and West Team members volunteered at the Ocean Discovery Institute (ODI) at their joint meeting in 2023. Ocean Discovery Institute is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that uses science to empower young people from underserved urban communities to transform their lives, their community, and our world as scientific and conservation leaders. NOAA staff assembled mini-ROV pools for ODI’s robotics summer camp, inventoried supplies to prepare for their school-year programs, and assembled welcome folders for students.​​​​​​
  • April 2023 Regional Collaboration Network Annual Workshop, Hilo, HI, Kona, HI

The NOAA Regional Collaboration Network (RCN) 2023 Annual Workshop was held in Hawaiʻi, one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet. It is critical for NOAA staff to understand Hawaiʻi’s unique culture, language, people, resources, and threats to better inform NOAA services in this region. The workshop was designed in a way that  allowed participants the opportunity to learn by doing or “Ma ka hana ‘ike.”

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The NOAA team met with members of the Keaukaha-Panaʻewa Farmers Association at the Pacific Islands Pilot Project Site in Panaʻewa. The goal for the visit was to learn how NOAA and partners are facilitating the co-production of knowledge to build resilience and food security in a native Hawaiian community that is facing climate change. The RCN Team had the chance to give back to the community by participating in hana, or work, activities such as clearing tī leaf plants, filling lāʻau planter boxes with mulch and soil, and weeding.
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With NOAA’s visit to West Hawaiʻi Habitat Focus Area at Kīholo Bay, participants learned about traditional Hawaiian fishponds as an ancient form of aquaculture and how partnerships between the community, state, and federal agencies help reduce climate change vulnerabilities and land-derived sediment and nutrient pollution, improve management tools, and increase community involvement. The NOAA team incorporated work, or hana, by helping gather rocks from the ponds. These rocks are used to rebuild and secure pond walls destroyed during a recent tsunami. 
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NOAA also connected with Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests and visited the Hawaiʻi BWET Project: Puʻu waʻawaʻa Community-Based Subsistence Forestry Area. The NOAA team learned about Ka ʻāina aloha o nāpuʻupūʻalukinikini - Supporting community-based subsistence through reforestation and stewardship and helped remove invasive species on site during the tour.
  • August 2022 Regional Coordinators Annual Meeting, Bridgeport, CT
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At the 2022 Regional Coordinators Meeting, Regional Coordinators and Maisa Tisdale, CT Climate & Equity roundtable participant and President of the Mary & Eliza Freeman Center for History & Community met with Ellie Angerame, Executive Director of Green Village Initiative, and their Operations Coordinator, Dune Bryant, at their community urban farm in Bridgeport, CT. The group discussed NOAA products and services that would be valuable to the community. NOAA staff put on gloves and helped with a community garden while learning about the local community’s needs. 

Join us in promoting NOAA in Service

By prioritizing equity and building a NOAA team that is connected through service, NOAA empowers local staff to take the necessary time to build trusted relationships with local communities, strengthens NOAA service delivery and connections within local communities, and helps inform further steps towards a more equitable future. If you would like to learn more about NOAA in Service opportunities and get involved, please contact regional.collaboration@noaa.gov.