Fall 2026 Webinars

Throughout fall 2026, the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team and Great Lakes Sea Grant will develop opportunities for learning and engagement about each others’ work. This will be accomplished through a series of knowledge exchanges and discussions, brokered by the Sea Grant liaison as discussion-forward webinars.

Each webinar will highlight offices and programs which are represented by the members of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team. Short presentations will be followed by a discussion among speakers and attendees. Attendees are encouraged to explore overlapping opportunities with Sea Grant work, potential gaps in research or deliverables, strategies for jointly developing and cross-promoting resources and services, and more.

Promotional graphic that reads: NOAA Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team Fall 2026 Webinar Series. Come meet NOAA's offices, programs, and partners across the Great Lakes. The image has a dark blue background with blue and teal graphics decorating it. The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and NOAA Great Lakes logos are below the text.

Webinars

NOAA Office for Coastal Management & Digital Coast – Register

Thursday, Oct 1, 11am-12pm/ 10am-11am

Speakers: Chiara Zuccarino-Crowe, Great Lakes Regional Lead, NOAA Office for Coastal Management

Presentation Description: An overview of NOAA OCM and highlights of key products, resources, and opportunities well-suited to coordination with Sea Grant.

NOAA Office of Coast Survey – Register

Thursday, Oct 15, 11am-12pm/10am-11am

Speakers: Lucy Hick, Acting Great Lakes Navigation Manager, NOAA Office of Coast Survey

Presentation Description: NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey maintains the nation’s nautical charts and publications for U.S. coasts and the Great Lakes. Our work is foundational to safe navigation in U.S. waters, the flow of goods through U.S. ports, and the resiliency of coastal economies and environments. This presentation will provide an overview of Coast Survey’s mission and our recent activities in the Great Lakes region.

GLERL Weather & Climate Research Overview | GLISA Overview & Contribution to Annex 9 – Register

Thursday, Oct 29, 11am-12pm/10am-11am

Speakers: Alisa Young, GLERL Weather and Climate Portfolio Lead and U.S GLWQA Annex 9 Co-Chair, NOAA GLERL

Jenna Jorns, GLISA Director, NOAA’s Great Lakes RISA team

Presentation Description: NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) has recently expanded its mission-focused research capacity in air–lake interactions and related weather and climate processes. This presentation will highlight the role of GLERL’s Weather and Climate Portfolio in advancing regional science and demonstrate how ongoing research supports NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) priorities. It will also describe how this work contributes critical observations, data products, and scientific understanding needed to address key hydroclimatic and hydrometeorological challenges across the Great Lakes region.

GLISA is NOAA’s Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) team, working to enable local, state and regional partners to better understand, plan for, and ultimately address their long-term preparedness needs. GLISA Director Jenna Jorns will share an overview of GLISA’s data and information resources, engagement approaches, and partnership opportunities, as well as how GLISA supports NOAA’s contribution to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Annex 9.

GLERL’s work to support fisheries management in the Great Lakes | Satellites See the Great Lakes: CIMSS Research on Great Lakes Processes – Register

Thursday, Nov 5, 11am-12pm/10am-11am

Speakers: Joe Krieger, Research Ecologist, NOAA GLERL

Tim Wagner, Research Scientist, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS)

Presentation Description: The Great Lakes support a robust and vibrant commercial and recreational fishery. This presentation will highlight two examples of NOAA GLERL’s recent work to support regional fisheries managers tasked with maintaining this economically, ecologically, and culturally important resource.

The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) may have a global reach, but since it is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it has a special love for the Great Lakes region. From specialized instrument deployments to specialized research projects, CIMSS scientists have explored the complex interactions between the Great Lakes and the land and atmosphere that surrounds them. This presentation will provide just a taste of how meteorological satellites and other instruments are shaping a greater understanding of the lakes and their impact.

National Weather Service (NWS) Services, Decision Support Services, and Outreach | Great Lakes Observing System – Register

Thursday, Nov 12, 1pm-2pm/12pm-1pm

Speakers: Rich Pollman, Meterologist-in-Charge, White Lake, MI NWS WFO
Eric Lenning, Meterologist-in-Charge, Chicago, IL NWS WFO
Mike Fries, Meterologist-in-Charge, Buffalo, NY NWS WFO

Jennifer Boehme, CEO, GLOS

Presentation Description: NWS offers a breadth of traditional warning, forecast and outreach services including the Great Lakes marine program area. Additionally, the NWS now has a mature Decision Support Services program that works with Federal, State and local government partners, especially the USCG, providing them with specific, interpretive weather forecast services to inform their critical decisions.

GLOS will share how real-time Great Lakes observations flow through Seagull and Seagull Coast into tools coastal communities use, and where Sea Grant extension could help put that data in front of boaters, anglers, and beach managers.

WaterAware: A NWS Hydrology Outreach Program – Register

Thursday, Nov 19, 1pm-2pm/12pm-1pm

Speakers: Abram DaSilva, Senior Hydrologist at the NWS Ohio River Forecast Center

Presentation Description: WaterAware is a National Weather Service outreach initiative designed to educate the public on a range of topics from basic hydrology to the more cutting edge flood- and drought-awareness tools provided by the National Weather Service.

Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research Overview | Updating the National and Great Lakes Datums – Register

Thursday, Dec 10, 11am-12pm/10am-11am

Speakers: Greg Dick, Director, CIGLR; Professor, University of Michigan

Jacob Heck, Regional Geodetic Advisor for the Great Lakes, NOAA National Geodetic Survey

Presentation Description: CIGLR expands NOAA’s capacity and impact in the Great Lakes through partnerships with universities, non-profit organizations, and private companies. This talk will give an overview of what CIGLR is, what it does, and how you can get involved.

The National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), maintained by NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey, is a consistent coordinate system that defines latitude, longitude, height, scale, gravity, and orientation throughout the United States. The NSRS is going through a major update that will impact all location data nationwide. In addition, the International Great Lakes Datum is going through a major update, which will impact the measurement of water levels. I will give a background on both systems, and explain what updating them means for people in the Great Lakes.

More About This Project:

This webinar series is part of the NOAA Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team’s (GLRCT) project: Learning Webinar Series: Strengthening NOAA’s Local Presence in the Great Lakes. Concurrent presentations to the GLRCT on Great Lakes Sea Grant (GLSG) work in Sea Grant focus areas by community of practice and network leaders are taking place throughout fall and winter of 2026/2027.

The project’s goals are: 

  • Equip individual GLRCT and GLSG staff with a broader understanding of NOAA’s and Sea Grant’s work across the basin
  • Improve GLRCT’s understanding and connection to stakeholders via Sea Grant partnerships
  • Support collaboration, coordination, and relationships between GLSG and GLRCT. 

If you have any questions about these presentations or this GLRCT project, please reach out to Kat Cameron, GLSG-NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory Liaison, kat.cameron@noaa.gov.