- 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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Providing Technical Assistance for Reporting Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse
Following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in March 2024, high-profile news outlet, CNN, contacted NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management seeking ship traffic data and expertise from the Marine Cadastre team. CSS employee owners supporting the Marine Cadastre project (through a subcontract with Lynker) are the team’s data experts and were the most qualified to…
High Resolution Land Cover Maps Now Available
NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management has released higher resolution land cover maps for Alabama, Mississippi, Northeast Ohio, Rhode Island, and the Puget Sound in Washington. These 1 meter data—previously only available in 30 meter—provide more detail communities need to map and understand their landscapes and features, including tree canopy, wetlands, impervious surface and several other categories. This additional detail will help inform decisions regarding stormwater management, flood mitigation, wetland restoration, and more. CSS employee owners—subcontracted through Lynker Technologies—contributed to the release of this…
Supervisory Support for 2025 Southern California Wildfires Response Efforts
Long after wildfires are extinguished, ongoing efforts continue to assess long-term damage and contamination. CSS employee owners are often heavily involved in these efforts and follow up to ensure response operations do not impact the environment. Response efforts in South California continued throughout the year following the 2025 wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles area. CSS continued to support the damage assessment through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency…
