The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploration, and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the US exclusive economic zone. The agency is part of the United States Department of Commerce and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. NOAA supports the "Dynamic Planet", and "Meteorology" events in Science Olympiad.
The United States Secretary of Commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The Secretary serves as the principal advisor to the President of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The Secretary reports directly to the President and is a statutory member of Cabinet of the United States. The Secretary is appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The Secretary of Commerce is responsible for promoting American businesses and industries. The department states its mission as 'to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States'.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a scientific agency overseen by the Department of Commerce. The NOAA Corps is made up of scientifically and technically trained officers. The NOAA Corps and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are the only U.S. uniformed services that consist only of commissioned officers, with no enlisted or warrant officer ranks. The NOAA Corps' primary mission is to monitor oceanic conditions, support major waterways, and monitor atmospheric conditions.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the stewardship of U.S. national marine resources. It conserves and manages fisheries to promote sustainability and prevent lost economic potential associated with overfishing, declining species, and degraded habitats.
Xavier William Proenza was the Southern Region Director of the United States National Weather Service from 1999–2007 and 2007–2013. He was also previously the director of the National Hurricane Center (NHC) from January 4, 2007 to July 9, 2007.
The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission was to unify and oversee the meteorological, climatological, hydrographic, and geodetic operations of the United States. It operated until 1970, when it was replaced by the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Executive Schedule is the system of salaries given to the highest-ranked appointed officials in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The president of the United States appoints individuals to these positions, most with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. They include members of the president's Cabinet, several top-ranking officials of each executive department, the directors of some of the more prominent departmental and independent agencies, and several members of the Executive Office of the President.
Richard R. Behn, is a retired one-star rear admiral of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps who served as director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine and Aviation Operations Centers, from August 2004 to September 2007. He was nominated for this position by President George W. Bush, confirmed by the Senate, and subsequently promoted to rear admiral in August 2004.
Conrad Charles Lautenbacher Jr. is a retired Navy Vice Admiral, was the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere within the United States Department of Commerce and the eighth administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He was appointed to the position on December 19, 2001 and resigned effective October 31, 2008 in anticipation of a new White House administration. He was born in Philadelphia.
Barry Lee Myers is an American attorney and businessman who was the chief executive officer and general counsel for AccuWeather, a privately owned for-profit weather-forecasting company founded by his elder brother, Joel Myers. As an AccuWeather executive, Myers lobbied unsuccessfully to restrict the National Weather Service, a governmental service which provides free weather forecasting, from providing the service and competing with AccuWeather's business.
Michael S. Devany is a former vice admiral in the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps who last served as the deputy under secretary for operations at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from January 2, 2014 to April 2016. He previously served as director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps from August 13, 2012 to January 1, 2014, succeeding RADM Jonathan W. Bailey. As deputy under secretary for operations, he was NOAA’s chief operating officer. VADM Devany was responsible for the day-to-day management of NOAA’s national and international operations for oceanic and atmospheric services, research, and coastal and marine stewardship. He is a key advisor to the under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere/NOAA administrator on NOAA program and policy issues. Devany was the first NOAA Corps officer to achieve the rank of vice admiral since VADM Henry A. Karo in 1965, and the second NOAA Corps officer overall. Devany retired from NOAA in April 2016 after over 30 years of combined uniformed service.
The marine policy of the Barack Obama administration comprises several significant environmental policy decisions for the oceans made during his two terms in office from 2009 to 2017. By executive action, US President Barack Obama increased fourfold the amount of protected marine space in waters under United States control, setting a major precedent for global ocean conservation. Using the U.S. president's authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, he expanded to 200 nautical miles the seaward limits of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument around the U.S. island possessions in the Central Pacific. In the Atlantic, Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the first marine monument in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Atlantic.
Timothy Cole Gallaudet is an American oceanographer and retired Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. Gallaudet worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce as the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). As of 2024 he is the CEO of Ocean STL Consulting, LLC., and hosts The American Blue Economy Podcast.
Diana Hayward Josephson was the first woman to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) when she became the acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere in 1993.
Dr. William Eugene Evans was a world renowned marine mammal acoustician and ecologist and the fifth Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Monica P. Medina is an American attorney and government official who previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the Department of State. Medina served as Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, deputy associate attorney general, and general counsel of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She was also the U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission. She is currently President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Neil Andrew Jacobs, Jr. is an American scientist and former government official who served as the acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 2025, newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump nominated Jacobs to the position of NOAA Administrator.
Nancy A. Hann is a vice admiral in the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. Hann is the deputy under secretary for operations at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Currently, she is acting as under secretary and administrator of NOAA. She previously served as the director of the NOAA Corps and director of the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO). Prior to that, Hann was the NOAA Corps and OMAO's deputy director. Hann is the first woman to achieve the rank of vice admiral in the history of the NOAA Corps and its predecessors.
Richard William Spinrad is an American oceanographer and government official who served as the 11th Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He also concurrently served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere from 2021 until 2025.
