The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division hosted a day of partnership at its headquarters in Fort Hamilton, New York, with members of the U.S. Geological Survey Feb. 15.
Both organizations met to identify opportunities and innovative ways for USACE to partner with USGS to advance their missions and assist with decision-making. USGS attendees included Michael Tupper, regional director, Northeast region, and his team.
“It’s great that Tupp and his team can come to USACE, and we can have a day to discuss important topics, make connections and lay the groundwork for a fruitful partnership,” said Col. John P. Lloyd, NAD commander and division engineer.
“Every once in a while we bump into someone who can innovate, and Col. Lloyd is exactly that person,” Tupper said. “We are excited to dive into this partnership and collaborate with NAD to better the nation.”
NAD members gave an overview of the division and its operations, detailing the division’s water management and stream gage monitoring, harbor and ports maintenance, dredging operations, climate change preparedness and resilience, and hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste investigations and remediations.
USGS members presented their research capabilities, including water resource management, ecosystem management, reuse of dredged materials, coastal hazards and mapping, social science and economic analysis, work in the Delaware River Basin and international work in Africa and Europe.
Looking to the future, both organizations identified several potential subject areas for further collaboration to advance USACE’s mission and assist with its decision-making, including sharing information on USGS’ artificial intelligence capabilities for water management; USGS providing scientific studies on coastal resiliency, flood risk management, water resource and environmental issues; PFAS sampling and analysis; and studies to assist with reservoir release decisions and future dredging operations.
“I realize there’s a lot of overlap in what USGS and NAD do,” Lloyd said. “If we can get the ball rolling on collaborating in these areas, there are great benefits for us and the people we serve in the region. Having days like these make you love being here at NAD. I will look back on my time here and know we’ve accomplished great things. I sincerely thank my team and Tupp’s for strengthening this partnership.”
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