Directors Office

PIFSC All hands meeting

The Directors Office provides overall scientific leadership, strategic guidance, research direction, program management, and operational policy for the Science Center. In addition, the office is responsible for liaison with our many partnering agencies and offices, including the Pacific Islands Regional Office and other NOAA offices locally and nationally; the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council; resource management agencies of American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands; the University of Hawaii and the University of Guam; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; fishing industry members and organizations; recreational fishers; nongovernmental conservation organizations; other groups and the general public. The Directors Office provides coordination and leadership for U.S. participation in international scientific committees and commissions in the Pacific. The Center Director serves on the NMFS Science Board and is the U.S. delegate to PICES, the North Pacific Marine Science Organization. The Directors Office also manages the Center's planning and budget functions and outreach and public affairs.

Budget, Planning, and Program Coordination

Many Center-wide budget, planning, and program coordination activities are implemented from the Budget and Planning Office to ensure responsiveness to and consistency with the NOAA and NOAA Fisheries Strategic Plans. These activities include:

Generation of current and projected 'Annual and Program Operating and Spending Plans'
Center-wide budget formulation, execution, and requests
Development of guidelines and policies governing maintenance of the budget
Research program oversight, coordination, and integration
Strategic planning and input to the NOAA Program Planning and Budget Execution System
Establishment and tracking of performance measures and milestones
Ensuring National Environmental Policy Act compliance for PIFSC research
Coordination of PIFSC efforts to support the Integrated Ocean Observing System
Scheduling and coordination of NOAA research vessel and aircraft operations

Outreach and Public Affairs

The community outreach program serves as the focus for the communication of scientific programs with outside agencies and the public. The objective of the program is to seek and create opportunities to inform and educate the public about the Center's mission and its impact on the economy and environment in the Pacific. This is accomplished by:

Raising awareness of the general public to gain support for programs of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center
Teaching young people to become stewards of the environment
Establishing PIFSC as a resource for the community and networking with community groups, schools, and other organizations
Promoting careers in ocean sciences
Helping teachers develop a science and conservation curriculum that supports the objectives of PIFSC.