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NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is seeking applicants for the primary community member education seat on its advisory council. The council ensures public participation in sanctuary management and provides advice to the sanctuary superintendent.

“The members of our advisory council represent an extremely important element of our community,” said David Alberg, sanctuary superintendent. “Their input, experience and expertise assist the sanctuary in making informed and timely decisions on how to best manage our underwater heritage and resources.”

The advisory council consists of 21 members and nine alternates representing a variety of local user groups, the general public, as well as local, state and federal government entities. Council representatives meet three to four times each year in half to full-day public sessions located at various locations on the Outer Banks and in Newport News, Va.

Candidates are selected based on their expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying, community and professional affiliations and views regarding the protection and management of marine resources. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve a two-year term.

Applications are due Friday, July 31, 2020. Application kits can be downloaded from the sanctuary’s website at http://monitor.noaa.gov/advisory/news.html. To receive an application kit or for further information, contact Will Sassorossi, sanctuary advisory council coordinator, via e-mail at  William.Sassorossi@noaa.gov; by phone at 757-591-7329; or by mail at 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, VA 23606-3759.

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary became the nation’s first marine sanctuary in 1975, protecting the wreck of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor, best known for its battle with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia in Hampton Roads, Va., on March 9, 1862.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine resources.

READ MORE IN OUR ON THE WATER SECTION HERE.

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