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National Sea Grant Office

NOAA’s National Sea Grant Office administers funding to the Sea Grant colleges throughout the nation and oversees several national funding competitions. They also facilitate both the Department of Commerce designation of Sea Grant College Programs and the Sea Grant program assessment process.
Sea Grant is made up of 34 programs, a national Sea Grant Library, and a network of thousands of professionals working in every coastal and Great Lakes state as well as in Guam and Puerto Rico. Additional projects extend Sea Grant’s professional network to the Virgin Islands, Marianas Islands and other U.S. territories as well as to U.S. inland states. 

The disciplines of Sea Grant professionals are all grounded in supporting coastal and Great Lakes communities, and they range broadly — coastal ecology and biology, fisheries biology, aquaculture technology and business, climate change science, community resilience to natural change, economics, social science, youth and adult education, and more. 

Sea Grant professionals may specialize in research, extension, education, communications or other functional areas. 

Meet the Team

Jonathan Pennock

Director
Dr. Pennock oversees the strategic direction of the Program, the support and integration of the work of the 34 state Sea Grant Programs, and the growth of the Program as codified in Sea Grant’s authorizing legislation.

Nikola Garber

Deputy Director
Kola currently serves as the Deputy Director of the National Sea Grant Office and National Sea Grant College Program.

Lacy Alison

Program Officer & National Water Resources Lead
Lacy Alison serves as the mid-Atlantic and Southeast Region Federal Program Officer and National Water Resources Lead for the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Chelsea Berg

Grants Manager
In this role, Chelsea oversees all aspects of granting within the National Sea Grant Office. Additionally, she serves as a Federal Program Officer for western Great Lakes Sea Grant programs.

Rebecca Briggs

Program Officer & National Research Lead
Becky is a scientific program manager with nearly two decades of leadership experience working in the government and academic research sectors.

Donna Brown

Project Administrator
Donna serves as the Project Administrator to the National Sea Grant College Program Director as well as support staff for the National Sea Grant Advisory Board.

Joshua Brown

Environmental Literacy & Workforce Development Lead
Joshua liaises with the Sea Grant Education Network as well as the broader NOAA Education community as Sea Grant’s representative on the NOAA Education Council. Additionally, he serves as a program officer.

Mary Collins

Knauss Fellow
Mary Collins is the Coastal Resilience Specialist for the National Sea Grant Office and a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow.

Amara Davis

Outreach Coordinator
Amara focuses on overall engagement, internal and external communications, and an intentional focus on incorporating diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility into our work.

Elizabeth Diamond

Program Analyst
Elizabeth provides support services for grants management, grants competitions, communication with principal investigators and fellows, database updates, and many more day-to-day operations.

Jessica Dupree

Publications Coordinator
Jessica Dupree is a Communications Specialist and Publications Coordinator for the National Sea Grant Office.

Jonathan Eigen

Assistant Director for Operations
Jon Eigen serves as the Assistant Director for Operations in the National Sea Grant Office, overseeing all aspects of budget and administrative duties.

Stuart Goldberg

Environmental Compliance Coordinator
Stu Goldberg is our Environmental Compliance Coordinator and assists with grant activities for Alaska, California, Guam, Hawaiʽi, Oregon, and Washington.

Susan Holmes

Designated Federal Officer & Evaluation Lead
Susan Holmes is the Designated Federal Officer for the National Sea Grant Advisory Board and Evaluation Lead.

Maddie Kennedy

Student Opportunities Coordinator
Maddie facilitates the administration of the Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship and NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship.

Alison Krepp

Program Officer & Social Science and Economics Lead
Alison Krepp is is the Social Science and Economics Lead and serves as the Program Officer for the Maine, New Hampshire, MIT, Woods Hole, and Rhode Island Sea Grant programs.

Amanda Lawrence

Fellowships Coordinator
Amanda co-manages the Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship and the NMFS-Sea Grant Marine Resources and Population Dynamics/Marine Resource Economics Fellowship.

Hallee Meltzer

Communications Coordinator
Hallee oversees the release of all announcements by the National Sea Grant Office and coordinates communications among the 34 Sea Grant programs.

Summer Morlock

Assistant Director for Programs
Summer oversees the program officers for the Sea Grant programs and relevant areas such as Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation (PIE), grants, and environmental compliance.

Alexandra Neal

Knauss Fellow
Alexandra is currently a Knauss fellow in the National Sea Grant Office with a joint appointment with the Weather Program Office, serving as the Social Science Policy and Planning Liaison.

Christopher Petrone

Extension Lead
Chris Petrone serves as the National Sea Grant Office Extension Lead–a one-year, 50% IPA position

Mark Rath

Aquaculture Manager
Mark co-leads the NSGO aquaculture portfolio and supports the aquaculture research and extension conducted at state Sea Grant programs in the mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Gulf Coast, and western Great Lakes regions.

Patricia Razafindrambinina

Program Assistant
Patricia Razafindrambinina is a Program Assistant for the National Sea Grant Office.

Mary Robinson

Administrative Assistant
Mary Robinson serves as the Administrative Assistant for the National Sea Grant Office.

Kelly Samek

Gulf Regional Lead & Federal Program Officer
Kelly Samek is the Gulf Regional Lead & Federal Program Officer for Florida Sea Grant, Louisiana Sea Grant, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, the National Sea Grant Law Center, and Texas Sea Grant.

Jennifer Stokes

Financial Analyst
Jennifer Stokes is a Financial Analyst at the National Sea Grant College Program.

Kaitlyn Theberge

Knauss Fellow
Kaitlyn Theberge is the 2023 Seafood Resources Knauss Fellow at the National Sea Grant Office.

Chuck Weirich

Aquaculture Manager
Chuck Weirich serves as Aquaculture Manager at the National Sea Grant Office.

Madison Willert

Knauss Fellow
Madison's work supports Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act activities to enhance coordination and communication concerning marine debris-related projects.

Connect

Leadership

Director: Jonathan Pennock, Ph.D.
Deputy Director: Nikola M. Garber, Ph.D.

Mailing Address

1315 East-West Highway, Room 11735
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

Directions

Contact

Phone: 301-734-1066, Fax: 301-713-0799
Email: sgweb@noaa.gov 

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