Smith among NOAA honorees

Eli Smith, son of Robert and Liane Smith of Colfax, was among Gold Medal recipients at the 70th annual honor awards program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C., Sept 25. Now stationed in Providence, R.I., Smith was among a group of volunteers who responded on short notice to urgent requests by the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct emergency hydrographic surveys. The group formed a mobile integrated survey team to make sure ports and channels were free of obstructions for safe maritime and humanitarian relief operations.

The team worked in the Houston area after Hurricane Harvey and the Tampa area after Hurricane Irma. A member of the 2007 class of Colfax High School, Smith received a degree in geology from Western Washington University and worked for oil companies in Colorado before joining NOAA. He was stationed aboard the NOAA ship Rainier in Newport, Ore., before being transferred to Rhode Island. His mother made the trip to Washington, D.C., to attend the ceremony. NOAA is a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce.