Graduation date: 2003
One of the crucial components of marine and coastal resource management is
using the best available data for decision-making. There are many facets however,
to what makes data available and useable. Even though data may exist for many
natural resource and marine resource issues, they don't always come in accessible
or easy to use formats. In many cases, special software or tools must be used to
most efficiently incorporate the data into the decision-making process. And
similarly, if those software, tools, and ultimately data, are to be used to their
greatest potential, the coastal management community must be properly trained on
how to use them. Therefore, an important part of using the best available data is
having the technology, tools, and training to make data more useable and effective.
With advancing technologies, including the advent of the Internet, this topic is
particularly relevant. As more data are being produced and made more readily
accessible, there is an increased need for specialized tools for data use and in turn,
the need for training materials that teach coastal managers how these tools can best
be used for coastal management purposes. This report is based on the work I
undertook as an intern with the NOAA Coastal Services Center (CSC), dealing
with just such issues. I was tasked with creating training materials aimed at coastal
managers which focused on specialized GIS tools and software. Some of these
materials were to be available on the CSC Website in conjunction with data
handling tools created at the Center, while others were to be used in GIS training
courses as part of the CSC training program.
This report will be presented in three main sections. The Background section will
provide a brief look at the increasing use of the Internet in coastal management, its
influence on information sharing, and the impact this has had on coastal zone
management in particular. The Background section will also discuss the increase
of available data, touching on the types of information and data being used by
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coastal managers, but focusing on geospatial data and the benefits they bring to the
coastal management community. This will lead to a look at the creation of
specialized tools designed to make data more useable, and finally to the need for
training materials to teach the proper use of these tools. The next section,
Internship Activities, will focus on my internship with the NOAA Coastal Services
Center, giving a background on the Center, focusing on their training program and
customer surveys, and then detailing the services I performed at the Center
including the development of training manuals and modules. The Conclusion
section will provide insight into future needs for training materials, a look at how
these activities contribute to integrated coastal zone management, and an
evaluation of my internship experience. Finally, the products of this internship are
appended in full and are meant to serve as the Results of the overall internship
report.