Rick Honored at National Marine Sanctuary Garden
Rear Admiral Richard “Rick” Thomas Brennan, Jr.
Director
NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey
NOAA Corps Rear Admiral Richard “Rick” Brennan, director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, was an integral part of building connections across NOAA line and program offices, including the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, to benefit coastal communities around the United States. Rick was instrumental in advocating for regional mapping, including the Southern California Seafloor Mapping Initiative, a cross-line office NOAA partnership which helped to identify multiple new hazards to navigation, new coral gardens, and even a new species of snail. Additionally, the survey identified a previously uncharted reef in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, which was later officially designated as “Brennan Reef” in Rick’s honor. He also championed the 2022 Rainier Integrates Charting, Hydrography, and Reef Demographics, or RICHARD Cruise, (named posthumously for Admiral Brennan), which included hydrographic and coral surveys in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, delivering high‐quality data, data products, and tools to the region.
You can read more about the National Marine Sanctuary Garden at the Dr Nancy Foster Florida Keys Environmental Complex in Key West and other honorees here.