Under Biden, NOAA’s profile is set to rise
When President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to rise to new prominence as the premier climate research agency in an administration that intends to place climate change at the top of its agenda.
The NOAA transition team is mapping out key priorities and identifying potential leaders for an agency whose responsibilities also include weather forecasting, ocean research, the health of the nation’s fisheries and protection of endangered marine species.
NOAA’s next leader will have the critical task of shaping the agency’s climate research agenda so it can effectively serve as an information clearinghouse to policymakers charged with planning for the consequences of climate change and mitigating its effects.
Jane Lubchenco, who served as NOAA administrator under President Barack Obama, said the next person to lead the agency should hold “strong scientific climate and climate-ocean credentials” and expertise in climate change impacts and how to address them.
“The right person at the helm can harness that expertise and work in partnership with other agencies, Congress, tribes, states and communities to be much more effective in tackling climate change,” she said via email.
David Titley, who served as NOAA’s chief operating officer under Obama, said an ideal administrator would be passionate about NOAA’s mission, know and understand Washington, have leadership and management chops and be able to “(c)raft, communicate and sell a compelling vision for NOAA going forward, accounting for the massive changes and ever-accelerating in technology, climate, and society.”
According to multiple former NOAA officials and environmental advocates who closely follow the agency, a leading candidate to run the agency is Monica Medina, who has twice held leadership positions at NOAA. She was NOAA’s general counsel in the Clinton Administration from 1997 to 1999, and principal deputy undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere under Obama from 2009 to 2012. She currently serves as the founder and publisher of Our Daily Planet, an environmental newsletter.
“(Medina) has a record of getting things done — often against the odds — in ways that are good for people and the environment,” said Justin Kenney, who was communications director at NOAA under Obama and worked with Medina. “She not only values and listens to scientists, she actively works to preserve scientific integrity.”
Medina, unlike most past NOAA administrators, is not a scientist and a complicating factor in her case is that she is married to incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain, though spouses often serve in different government departments. However, with her experience at the agency and political connections, she could be an asset for obtaining resources for the agency.
Marshall Shepherd, director of the atmospheric sciences program at the University of Georgia, is another top contender to head the agency. Shepherd, a skilled communicator on climate science, would be the NOAA’s first Black administrator. Shepherd is a past president of the American Meteorological Society, frequently appears as on-air expert on The Weather Channel, and previously worked on weather satellites for NASA.
Shepherd said in an interview that he has held conversations with transition teams regarding the leadership and direction of key weather and climate agencies, including NOAA and NASA.
“Theoretically the (NOAA administrator) job is quite appealing and there’s a lot of work to be done, but personally this may not be the right time for me,” he said regarding his interest in the NOAA position.
In addition, the Biden transition team has also reached out to Everette Joseph, the director of the National Center of Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. Joseph, who is also Black, taught at Howard University, where Vice President-elect Kamala Harris also attended school, and has taught at the State University of New York at Albany.
Margaret Leinen, who directs the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is another name frequently mentioned for the job. Before joining Scripps, her past work includes a seven year stint at the National Science Foundation where she led research planning for the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which coordinates climate science activities at 13 Federal agencies. She holds a Ph.D. in oceanography.
Also in the mix is Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, who founded the organization Urban Ocean Lab, and is an advocate for the oceans’ role in solving climate change. She too would be the first Black administrator and would bring formidable communications skills to the job as the current cohost of the hit climate change podcast, “How to Save a Planet,” on Gimlet.
Johnson earned a B.A. degree from Harvard University in environmental science and public policy, and a Ph.D. in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in marine biology. She would also bring to the job a focus on diversity and inclusion, something that’s been a key challenge facing the atmospheric sciences in particular.
Other former NOAA officials may be interested in coming back to the agency as well, including Holly Bamford, who previously served as director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service, and Rick Spinrad, who completed a stint as NOAA’s chief scientist.
Kathryn Sullivan, a former astronaut who served as NOAA administrator during Obama’s second term, is on the Biden team’s review committee for the Commerce Department, which houses NOAA, and could seek to return a highlevel position in the administration. Other names could surface as the incoming administration sorts out other environment-related posts, such as the White House climate czar and leaders of the EPA and Department of Energy.
NOAA’s anticipated high profile role within the Biden administration comes as a stark contrast to the Trump Administration, during which the agency largely flew under the radar and, for the first time in its history, went without a Senate-confirmed administrator for an entire presidential term.