**NOAA -- 2006 Gold and Silver Medals**

**Gold Medals**

**Nancy B. Thompson**\
**Leadership**\
National Marine Fisheries Service\
*For leadership in executing the Department's fisheries mission
activities despite unprecedented devastation due to Hurricanes Katrina,
Rita and Wilma.*

**Christopher Parish\
Heroism**\
National Ocean Service\
*For risking personal safety while delivering food and other life
necessities to hurricane-affected citizens, greatly assisting in their
recovery during the first few weeks of Katrina's aftermath.*

**NOAA Fisheries Service: National Seafood Inspection Laboratory and
Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Labs; CAO's Project
Planning and Management Division; NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations
(NMAO)\
Personal & Professional Excellence**\
National Marine Fisheries Service\
*For expeditiously re-establishing NOAA Fisheries Service's Northern
Gulf of Mexico operations, under formidable post-hurricane Katrina
conditions.*

**WFO New Orleans, LA; WFO Mobile, AL; Lower Mississippi River Forecast
Center**\
**Customer Service**\
National Weather Service\
*For providing life-saving hurricane warnings and continuous service to
the public while at great personal risk during the devastation wrought
by Katrina.*

**Tropical Prediction Center/National Hurricane Center**\
**Customer Service**\
National Weather Service\
*For critical and life-saving forecasts provided during the
unprecedented hurricane season of 2005, which included three of the six
strongest storms in the past 150 years.*

**Todd Wilson, Vernon Swiger, Mondle Burrell**\
**Heroism**\
NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations\
*For heroic acts in the waning hours of Hurricane Katrina that ensured
the NOAA Ship OREGON II remained secured at her mooring.*

**WFO Jackson, MS\
Customer Service**\
National Weather Service\
*For increasing tornado warning lead times by nine minutes, over the
average lead time of fourteen minutes, contributing to life-saving
efforts during the April 6, 2005, eastern Mississippi tornado outbreak.*

**Seth Gutman, Susan Sahm, Kirk Holub, Stanley Benjamin**\
**Scientific/Engineering Achievement**\
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research\
*For the development of GPS water vapor observing systems for use in
NOAA weather forecasting, global climate monitoring and research.*

**Richard Feely, Christopher Sabine, Rik Wanninkhof, Tsung-Hung Peng,
Dana Greeley, Marilyn Roberts (ret.), Catherine Cosca, Esa Peltola,
Robert Castle, Betty Huss**\
**Scientific/Engineering Achievement**\
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research\
*For pioneering research leading to the discovery of increased
acidification in the world\'s oceans due to the absorption of
atmospheric carbon dioxide.*

**Aircraft Operations Center\
Personal & Professional Excellence**\
NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations\
*For doubling annual hurricane flights, providing 7,000 aerial photos of
Katrina-affected areas, and delivering life-saving supplies during the
historic 2005 hurricane season.*

**Vera Trainer**\
**Scientific/Engineering Achievement**\
National Marine Fisheries Service\
*For establishing an internationally recognized research and monitoring
program for early warning of harmful algal bloom events.*

**Morris Bender, Timothy Marchok, Naomi Surgi (NWS), David Michaud
(NWS)\
Scientific/Engineering Achievement**\
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research\
*For timely improvements to the GFDL hurricane model that led to
outstanding track and intensity forecasts for Katrina and Rita.*

**\
Silver Medals**

**Joseph Stinus, Russell Beard, Elizabeth Schenck-Gardner, Bradlee Nunn,
Mary O\'Chery, Susan Starke, Sharon Mesick, Eric Roby, Julie Bosch**\
**Customer Service**\
National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service\
*For extraordinary service exhibited during the post-Hurricane Katrina
Recovery of the National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC).*

**WFO Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI**\
**Customer Service**\
National Weather Service\
*For issuing life-saving warnings, all above average lead times, during
Wisconsin's largest single outbreak of tornadoes in a 24-hour period.*

**Bernadita Anulacion, Jon Buzitis, Tracy Collier, Shailer Cummings
(OAR), LT William Mowitt, Mark Peterson, Linda Rhodes, Elizabeth
Scott-Denton, Sean Sol, Gina Ylitalo**\
**Scientific/Engineering Achievement**\
National Marine Fisheries Service\
*For conduct of field operations immediately following Hurricane Katrina
that were vital for ensuring that seafood was safe for public
consumption.*

**John Jensenius, Jr.**\
**Customer Service**\
National Weather Service\
*For outstanding initiative, creativity, and execution in leading NOAA's
Lightning Safety Awareness Program.*

**Northwest Fisheries Science Center**\
**Scientific/Engineering Achievement**\
National Marine Fisheries Service\
*For quickly analyzing seafood from the Gulf of Mexico to assure its
safety for public consumption following the passage of Hurricane
Katrina.*

**Mark Miller, Jerry Muhasky, James Farr, Pauline Jenne, Jon Reinsch,
Robert Jones, Debra Payton, Robert Pavia, William Lehr, Glen
Watabayashi**\
**Personal & Professional Excellence**\
National Ocean Service\
*For developing and updating the CAMEO/ALOHA software, the number-one
chemical emergency response and planning tool in the U.S., to meet
post-9/11 needs.*

**Sam Albanese, Aimee Devaris, Christopher Maier, Mary Jocelyn Perry,
James Prange, Michael Richmond, Craig Searcy, Larry Van Bussum, David
White, Edward Zingone**\
**Customer Service**\
National Weather Service\
*For outstanding customer service, rapid response, and dedication to the
recovery mission of the grounded Selendang Ayu cargo ship.*

**Edward Little, Jr., Jay Boulet, Deborah Batiste, Charles Armstrong,
Albert Gabel, Kathleen Hebert, Gary Rousse, Linda Guidry, Elizabeth
Bourgeois, Horace Flowers, Jr.**\
**Personal & Professional Excellence**\
National Marine Fisheries Service\
*For operating under adverse post-hurricane conditions to provide
critical eye-witness reports on hurricane-devastated fishing
communities.*

**Sarah Borakove, Alan Bunn, David Elliott, LCDR Rick Fletcher, Bert Ho,
Brian Link, Robert Ramsey, Anthony Godette, Warren Krug, LT Sarah
Mrozek**\
**Personal & Professional Excellence**\
National Ocean Service\
*For conducting critical underwater hazard surveys that enabled the USCG
to reopen 13 vital Gulfports within days after Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita.*