We are proud to honor Dr. Gang Liu, ESSIC/CISESS Associate Research Scientist and NOAA/NESDIS/STAR affiliate, who is celebrating 20 years with NOAA Coral Reef Watch this month.
Liu has more than 30 years of experience in physical oceanography, satellite oceanography, and biophysical interactions in marine ecosystems. In 2000, he helped establish Coral Reef Watch (CRW) as an official NOAA program. For 20 years, Liu has served in a key role as NOAA CRW’s Lead Senior Scientist, Oceanographer, and Product Developer, helping to build, expand, and enhance the program and its world-renown decision support system for coral reef management.
While leading CRW’s research efforts and product development, implementation, operation, testing, validation, improvement, and operationalization for the last 20 years, Liu has become a well-respected expert in the application of satellite remote sensing data and model predictions to monitor the marine environment, especially over coral reefs. He has garnered extensive knowledge and experience in data management and analysis and user engagement. He frequently presents and publishes on CRW’s decision support products and their many applications by CRW’s extensive user community worldwide.
Of note, Liu is responsible for the conceptualization, development, and implementation of the most-used products in CRW’s decision support system for coral reef management, including its satellite Bleaching Alert Area, Virtual Stations, automated Satellite Bleaching Alert Email System, and modeled subseasonal-to-seasonal Four-Month Coral Bleaching Outlook. He also conceived the stunning design for CRW’s 20th Anniversary graphic identifier.
Congratulations, Gang!
