Contenders to lead NOAA include ex-acting head, Shell executive
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The leading contenders to lead NOAA include a former acting head of the agency, a Shell executive and an ex-Interior Department official.
Why it matters: As one of the agencies that affects Americans' daily lives via weather forecasts and warnings, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is critical for public safety and the economy.
- The Commerce Department agency also is one of the globe's top climate science hubs, funding research and processing data from around the world. It's typically led by a relatively apolitical subject-matter expert.
Zoom in: At least three names are circulating for NOAA administrator, according to numerous people who spoke to Axios on condition of anonymity: Neil Jacobs, Ruth Perry and Margaret Everson.
- But with President Trump, a surprise nominee is always possible.
- Jacobs is a contender for the role he held in an acting capacity during Trump's first term. He has a background in computer modeling and could help bolster the agency's weather forecasting and AI capabilities.
- He would, however, come with some baggage, having been reprimanded by Commerce's Inspector General — along with others — for his role in the episode known as "Sharpiegate."
Jacobs has been working for the Earth Prediction Innovation Center, known as EPIC, to develop open-source weather models that can be used by government entities, universities and private sector forecasters.
The intrigue: Perry currently leads regulatory affairs for Shell Renewable Generation in the Americas, and has a Ph.D. in oceanography.
- She has extensive experience with offshore wind energy and on the so-called "wet side" of NOAA, but less experience with the agency's atmospheric and space forecasting responsibilities.
- Also in the running is Everson, a former adviser to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt during Trump's first term and interim head of both the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Typically a NOAA leader isn't announced until well into the first year or two of a president's first term, though the Trump White House has been moving unusually swiftly to name agency heads.
What's next: The new NOAA leader will have to contend with upgrading the network of Doppler radars and telecommunications equipment for Weather Service forecast offices, along with integrating AI modeling into the typical workflow of a forecaster.
- The new leader may also have to work with Congress to maintain funding for climate-related programs, given the administration's antipathy to the reaality of human-caused global warming.
Between the lines: Project 2025, a governing blueprint for a Republican administration that President Trump distanced himself from on the campaign trail, called for NOAA to be broken up and partly dissolved.
- Trump has since tapped into Project 2025 for ideas and personnel.
- At his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick shot down Project 2025's recommendations to break up NOAA or transfer some of its functions to the Interior Department.
- Under that proposal, some well-known parts of the agency — including the National Weather Service — would be privatized.
The bottom line: Each candidate would bring strengths and weaknesses to the gig, and it's possible that other individuals will emerge.
