Congress voted on January 1, 2021 to reauthorize and strengthen the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, a 23-year old program created by Congress to facilitate ocean-related partnerships between federal agencies, academia and industry to advance ocean science research and education.The reauthorization passed Congress as an amendment included in Section 1055 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.
Today, NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D, announced that Craig McLean, deputy assistant administrator for NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), has been selected to head the office, which is responsible for NOAA’s research enterprise, including laboratories and programs across the country.