MEMORANDUM FOR: Anchorage AMS Members and Affiliates

FROM:   Kristine Nelson, Anchorage Chapter.

SUBJECT: Minutes, Anchorage AMS Chapter Meeting,
                    Oct. 26, 2007  

Call Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order by Kristine Nelson, President, at 11:31  a.m. The meeting was held at the Aviation Technology Center at Merrill Field in Anchorage. 

• Introductions conducted
• Forecast winners were given their prizes to wrap up the contest from last winter/spring.
• Heidi Strader……2006-2007 season snowfall winner with 84.6”…the actual was 84.3”. 
• Elliot Barske…..2007 winner of first Anchorage snowfall.  Elliot guessed 1.7 inches on Oct 22nd…..the actual was 0.7” on Oct 23rd.

Treasurer’s Report: Our current chapter funds are $2,251.86

Old/New Business:

• Scholarships:
  - Local: Two local $225 dollar scholarships totaling $450 are still available. The deadline for applications has been extended to Dec 1st, 2007 because to date, no applications have been received.  Kristine has garnered the support of continues to send out information to everyone she can think of in the science-related field to generate interest.
  - National: Kristine has gotten a lot of help distributing her National AMS scholarship flyer throughout the state of Alaska thanks to many NWS employees, in particular, Larry Rundquist for distributing a scholarship flyer to remote locations of Alaska, Audrey Rubel, for providing an invaluable media contact for rural Alaska, and all the OICs, MICs, and others who have hand delivered the flyer and scholarship information.  Thank you!  Remember, the National Minority Scholarship worth $6,000 closes February 8th, 2008 and must be postmarked by that date.  The Deadline for AMS HQ receipt of Anchorage chapter scholarship recommendation will likely be March 07th, 2007.  For more information, here is the website: http://www.ametsoc.org/amsstudentinfo/scholfeldocs/index.html#6
• Science Fair:
• Science Fair-help is still needed with judging and presenting awards, March 21-23, 2008.  Judging is Saturday, March 22nd   with the Awards Presentation on Sunday.
• Christmas Dinner:
  • The Annual Anchorage AMS Christmas Dinner will be held at the Villa Nova Restaurant Dec 15th at 6pm.  Free deserts will be provided courtesy of the Anchorage AMS for everyone who brings in a toy for the Toys for Tots Foundation.  In addition, Larissa from Specialty Imports will be providing a lesson on the impact of weather on wines and leading a wine tasting.  For those who are unable to attend the Christmas dinner, but still want to donate a toy for the Toys for Tots Foundation, the Anchorage AMS will provide a voucher for a free Anchorage AMS lunch during a meeting of their choice.
• Donations:
  • Jim will check on getting gift certificates from ORSO and Glacier Brewhouse Restaurants.
  • Jackie will check with Channel 2 and The Bridge Restaurant
  • Kristine is working on Allure Day Spa gift certificates

Main Event:   

Carven Scott, Science and Operations Officer at the NWS Anchorage Forecast Office, gave a presentation on the “Regional Collaboration In NOAA”, and specifically about the emerging ARCTic planning process.  ARCTic is an acronym for Alaska Region Collaborative Team and is one of 8 teams established across NOAA.  The goal is to improve our value to customers by identifying and utilizing NOAA’s full range if capabilities within and across line offices (ie NWS, NOAA Fisheries, etc) in the Alaska Region, stakeholders, and across national corporate boundaries as well. 

The PPBES or Planning, Programming, Budgeting Execution System was originally established by Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher for equitable distribution of funds across line offices within NOAA.  ARCTic seeks to link line offices within operating branches, narrowing down specific goals and devising strategies to accomplish those goals where money can be leveraged for common goals.  The five primary goals are categorized as Ecosystem Protection, Water and Weather, Commerce and Transportation, Climate, and Mission Support (leadership, planning, budgeting).

By leveraging common line office and corporate goals, ARCTic seeks to eliminate redundancies in service or equipment needs (Figure 1).  For example, oceanic or fisheries measurements of sea ice thickness and/or temperature data may be shared with the NWS for climate studies.  Local and Regional NOAA offices need to also be sharing information, goals, and ideas to ensure projects with common threads are not being worked on simultaneously. 

Here is the url for a nationally produced presentation about NOAA’s Regional Collaboration Program:
https://arctic-noaa.webexone.com/default.asp?link=%2Fann%2Fdefault%2E

Adjournment:  
The meeting was adjourned by Kristine Nelson at 12:50 pm.