Meet your instructors

Melanie Abecassis

melanie.abecassis@noaa.gov

​​​​​​​Melanie works with the CoastWatch central team, which is based out of the NOAA NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research, in College Park, MD. She received her PhD from the University of Toulouse, France. Her background is in marine ecology, fisheries research and habitat-based models. She can help you with R questions, and to a lesser degree, Python and ArcGIS.
In her past life, Melanie was the operations manager for the OceanWatch Central Pacific node of CoastWatch, which is based out of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, located in Hawaii.

Cara Wilson

cara.wilson@noaa.gov

Cara Wilson is a satellite oceanographer for the Environmental Research Division at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) and is the PI of two regional nodes of NOAA’s CoastWatch program – the West Coast Regional Node and PolarWatch, which are both housed at SWFSC. Her research interests are in using satellite data to examine bio-physical coupling in the surface ocean, with a particular focus on determining the biological and physical causes of the large chlorophyll blooms that often develop in late summer in the oligotrophic Pacific near 30°N. She received a Ph.D. in oceanography from Oregon State University in 1997, where she examined the physical dynamics of hydrothermal plumes.  After getting her PhD she worked as the InterRidge Coordinator at the University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France.  Her introduction to remote sensing came with a post-doc at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center which involved analyzing TOPEX and SeaWiFS data. She is also the current chair of the IOCCG (International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group).

Dale Robinson

dale.robinson@noaa.gov

Dale Robinson is the Operations Manager for West Coast Node and deputy PI for the PolarWatch. He works with local stakeholders and engagement partners to develop and distribute value-added satellite products that are designed for use in operational and research activities. Dale is based out of the NOAA SouthWest Fisheries Science Center in Santa Cruz, CA. He received his PhD from the University of Southern California and has worked as a researcher at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, and San Francisco State University. His research background is as a biological oceanographer studying phytoplankton productivity and ecology in Antarctic and the Arctic waters.   

Michael Soracco

michael.soracco@noaa.gov

Michael is a satellite data and ArcGIS expert at CoastWatch Central. He will be assisting with any questions you may have about data availability, access and GIS. 

Betty Staugler

staugler@ufl.edu

Betty Staugler, M.S., is the NOAA Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Liaison, a federal/state partnership
position between NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), CoastWatch (CW),
Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and the Sea Grant Network. Her work focuses on mitigating harmful algal blooms nationwide by helping to expand and improve forecasting tools through stakeholder collaboration, engagement, and training. Betty has over two decades of experience working with stakeholder communities conducting outreach and education; needs assessments via surveys, focus groups and community forums; developing community engaged research, monitoring and restoration activities; and leading the development of workshops and symposia.

Shelly Tomlinson

michelle.tomlinson@noaa.gov

Ms. Michelle (Shelly) Tomlinson has been a member of what has now become the HAB
Forecasting Branch at the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science since 2002. As a research
oceanographer at the branch and the East Coast Node manager for NOAA’s CoastWatch
program, Shelly has been responsible for developing satellite remote sensing products and tools
for algal bloom monitoring, the development and successful transfer of operational forecasts for
HABs in several regions across the U.S., and the development of tools and training activities
associated with CoastWatch. Shelly has been a member of the CYanobacteria Assessment
Network (CyAN) project, a member of the Advisory Committee for the EU funded project Co-
Production of Climate Services (CoCliME) and a co-PI on several research projects related to the
monitoring and forecasting of HABs.