- The local CIOSS Council of Fellows met in December 2009 to discuss recent communications with NOAA, attempts to establish partnerships and projects to be included in the Year 8 Omnibus proposal. A summary is available on the CIOSS website.

- A meeting of the CIOSS Executive Board was held at the NOAA offices in Silver Spring, MD on September 4, 2009. It was intended to summarize CIOSS activities and partnerships for the Board members and ask for guidance that will help CIOSS gain support for activities and partnerships that extend beyond SOCD to other NESDIS and NOAA offices. A summary of the meeting and connections of points made to CIOSS activities can be found here.

- A new spreadsheet is available that summarizes the CIOSS Fellows' areas of expertise, grouped by scientific theme. It also includes contact information and is useful for NOAA program officers looking for possible collaboration opportunities and a quick reference for potential Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) students and NOAA student exchanges. This can be found on a permanent link under "Personnel" on the navigation bar.

- Update: A new website has been made to show past SMILE Highschool Challenges, along with photos and teacher activities.
The theme for the 2009-2010 SMILE Highschool afterschool activities and Challenge Event is watersheds and large scale climate variations. Activities leading up to the challenge have included wetland investigations, local watersheds, climate conundrums, estuaries and aquatic invaders.