weather warnings and the main weather forecasting body in the country, decided it could no longer gauge its performance by the accuracy and timeliness of its forecast – it needed to also understand how effective these were at getting people to respond. Under the lead of Dr. Lubchenco, NOAA launched the "Weather-Ready Nation" initiative in the summer of 2011 to help build resilience and improve on-the-ground response to extreme weather and water events. In March 2011, NOAA initiated the nation's most ambitious upgrading of its weather radar network, converting all of its 160 radar sites to dual polarization technology, which vastly improves the accuracy and timeliness of forecasts related to weather and water activity. Hurricane Sandy In late October 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the United States, devastating communities across the eastern seaboard and west to Michigan and Wisconsin. NOAA technology and scientists helped to accurately predict the path of the storm, allowing on-the-ground warnings to be issued in time to save lives. Tohōku earthquake On March 11, 2011, the large Tohoku earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan, which was the precursor to the devastating Fukushima earthquake one month later. NOAA was involved in predicting where radioactive material and marine debris would go, how the currents would carry the material, and helping coastal states and communities prepare for dealing with the debris when it arrived. U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean Appointment On December 4, 2014, Lubchenco was appointed the U.S. Department of State's first Science Envoy for the Ocean (SEO) by Secretary of State John Kerry. As SEO, Dr. Lubchenco's mission was to integrate scientific knowledge with the creation of sustainable solutions that improve global relationships, ocean health, and thus the well-being of human communities around the world. Following discussions with the Department of State, Lubchenco chose six developing countries in Africa and Asia to focus her ocean diplomacy work (South Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Indonesia, and China). The year-long tenure of science envoys required Lubchenco be strategic—relying on targeted information and guidance and working closely with key stakeholders—to realize the specific goals of each region. Serving from 2015 to 2016, Lubchenco fostered a dialogue between local communities, resource users and managers, government officials, non-governmental organizations, and academics to build upon initiatives that connect science to effective policy and management. Some of the key issue areas for Lubchenco as the SEO included ocean acidification, climate change