Back ||NOAA Home VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret.) Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Remarks at Falmouth High School, June 10, 2004, 1300-1400 hrs, Falmouth, Mass. Good Afternoon! It is a great honor to visit here today with such a distinguished group of students and to congratulate you on your project. I'd like to thank and recognize the School Superintendent Peter Clark (Assistant Superintendent Ann Bradshaw) and Principal Paul Cali for hosting this event today. I would also like to thank you, Ms. Brothers—a previous NOAA Teacher at Sea, for your dedication to this contest, your students, and the Ecology Club, and congratulations on being the recent recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics. As you know from your research on NOAA, NOAA is a federal science agency that protects, restores, and manages our environment and predicts and warns of environmental change. One of NOAA's most important cross cutting priorities is to provide environmental literacy, outreach and education on NOAA—which is exactly what you did with your project! You are commended for your outstanding achievement in promoting environmental awareness and education through science activities. Not only did you select an honorable name, Rachel Carson, but you also spent a great deal of time creating exciting and fun projects, such as the work you did with the Audible Local Ledger and the fish-printing activity at the science fair. Your idea on having students take a virtual tour of a NOAA ship is a great idea! Perhaps when the new ship comes on line, we can do just that. After all, the ship will collect information on ground fish and sea scallops, identify environmental factors that affect fish stocks, study organisms that supply the food chain, and investigate plankton populations and oceanographic conditions—all missions critical for taking care of our fisheries. Your dedication to completing most of this project on your own time and genuine interest in science, and your commitment to educate children and adults alike, is a testament to your belief that education is key for the preservation of our oceans and the earth. Based on your hard work and your efforts to reach out and educate the community, we would like to acknowledge you today. And because of your work ethic and dedication to the environment, you are exactly the type of students that NOAA is looking for to enter our workforce. We have many exciting opportunities within NOAA, such as returning to the Titanic on one of our ships, flying through Hurricane Isabel to collect data, and being involved in cutting edge climatic research such as our Global Observing System. The work you do in the Ecology Club is very similar to our efforts at NOAA and we look forward to working more closely with your Club and students with similar interests. Therefore, on behalf of NOAA, I present each of you with one of these NOAA hats and commend you on your outstanding project! NOAA needs more students and teachers like you to be excited about marine science and educate others about science [and NOAA] because you are our future workforce and you will be responsible for protecting and managing our environment. You should all be very proud of your accomplishments, because I know I am. Now, I don't want to take up anymore of your time because I am anxious to hear more about your project and the Ecology Club. Thank you.