The Oceans and Human Health Act (H.R. 4818 – Title IX) was passed in 2004 and implemented an Oceans and Human Health Initiative (OHHI) within NOAA that was a program until 2012. The NOAA OHHI included Centers of Excellence; External Grants; Distinguished Scholars and Traineeship Programs; and an Internal NOAA Awards Program. One aspect of the Federally-mandated program, required interagency and internal reporting and updates. To learn more about the OHHI click here.
As a Senior Science and Policy Analyst for NOAA’s OHHI, Carolyn co-led program development, strategic planning and execution; multi-agency, internal and external partnerships and facilitation; and science writing in many different formats including fact sheets, briefings, presentations, posters, talking points, workshops, content for multimedia products and required reports.
Carolyn was also lead staffer for the OHHI National Advisory Panel, the Joint OHH NOAA and NSF-NIEHS Center Director Meetings and the Interagency Working Group on HABS, Hypoxia and Human Health under the Subcommittee for Ocean Science and Technology (SOST) comprised of the following agencies NOAA, CDC, NSF, NASA, USGS, FDA, EPA, NIEHS, and USDA.
Through this variety of positions, Carolyn co-wrote or compiled and summarized on behalf of partnerships or working groups, several required federal reports such as:
For a complete list of ocean-related reports under the Office of Science and Technology Policy: Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST) click here.
To translate President Obama’s National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes into on-the-ground actions to benefit the American people, the National Ocean Council released the National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan. The Implementation Plan describes specific actions Federal agencies will take to address key ocean challenges, give states and communities greater input in Federal decisions, streamline Federal operations, save taxpayer dollars, and promote economic growth.
Carolyn led an interagency writing team for two health’ actions under the ‘Water Quality and Sustainable Land Practices’ priority objective in the initial drafting phase. To see the final National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan click here.
Prior to her work with the OHHI, Carolyn was a fisheries observer in California and North Carolina and worked on commercial fishing and marine mammal interactions at the NOAA Beaufort Lab. See link below for related publication.
Carolyn Sotka 