The U.S. Senate approved Michael C. Morgan as assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and forecasting.
Morgan's job will involve giving agency-wide guidance on weather, water, climate and ocean observations, including those made by in situ instruments and satellites, as well as the process of turning data into forecasts for environmental concerns, according to a July 15 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration news release.
“Dr. Morgan will be an invaluable addition to the Department and to our NOAA leadership team,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in the release. “His decades of world-renowned atmospheric and oceanic scientific expertise and dedicated service to the community make him ideally qualified to help guide NOAA’s lifesaving observation and prediction activities.”
NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad welcomes Morgan to NOAA and said he looked forward to working with him to advance NOAA’s mission, the release reported.
“His expertise will be especially critical as climate change necessitates an even greater reliance on NOAA’s world-class observations and predictions to support sustainable economic growth, protect property and save lives,” Spinrad said, according to the release.
“I look forward to working with the exceptional team at NOAA to advance our nation’s earth system prediction capabilities, ensure that our workforce reflects the diversity of our country and the communities we serve and develop tools so that our authoritative weather and climate data can be used even more effectively,” Morgan said in the release.
Morgan said NOAA knows communities rely on its data products to develop and execute plans to improve preparations for extreme weather and environmental change, according to the release.
