- Employee Spotlight
- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
NOAA Diversity in External Services Award Winner

Congratulations to Melis Ӧkter for receiving the first, annual NOAA Diversity in External Services Award. Melis is one of our coastal management specialists supporting our subcontract with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management. This award recognizes Melis’ work establishing partnerships and networks to create a safe space to learn and share about diversity and equity issues. Melis provided information and resources, such as risk communication and nature-based solutions, from the client to underserved communities. In addition, Melis is a leader of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, whose staff work closely with local communities. A big congratulations to Melis on this well-deserved award!
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Expanding our Waste Management Contract
We’ve recently expanded our waste management contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Our staff now support CDC in Fort Collins, Colorado. As part of this project, our employee owners ensure hazardous waste from laboratories and florescent and halogen light bulbs is managed, stored, and disposed of properly. For over 13 years…
New Release: Aquaculture Atlas for the Gulf of Alaska
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has published An Aquaculture Opportunity Area Atlas for the Gulf of Alaska, which identifies 77 potential options in 10 study areas for establishing commercial seaweed and shellfish mariculture in Alaska state waters. For nearly three years, CSS employee owners have been working with partners through our contract with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) to support this extensive, cross-agency effort. Since 2023, CSS has supported NCCOS with this collaborative effort,…
Revamping Coral Reef Conservation Program Website
NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program is a cross-NOAA program that focuses on resilience-based management of U.S. coral reef ecosystems and provides scientific data and information to coral reef managers, scientists, educators and the interested public. CSS employee owners recently played an integral role in updating the website with a fresh new look and reorganizing content…
