NOAA Leadership
Margaret Spring
Margaret Spring, NOAA Chief of Staff.
Margaret Spring, a graduate of Duke University School of Law and Dartmouth College, joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce, in June of 2009. In her capacity as Chief of Staff, she reports directly to NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco and serves as the chief advisor on policy, personnel and budget matters in the Office of the Under Secretary. Margaret works with the Administrator, NOAA senior leadership and the Department of Commerce to help integrate policy and budget priorities and align programs in support of the NOAA priorities and budget.
Margaret joined The Nature Conservancy’s California chapter in May, 2007, as Director of its Coastal and Marine Program where she managed and directed one of the largest U.S. marine programs at the Conservancy, focused on scalable, innovative projects designed to address the major threats to coastal and marine biodiversity and related ecosystems.
Prior to joining the Conservancy she served as Senior Counsel, then General Counsel, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Her areas of responsibility included: fisheries conservation and management; coastal zone management; marine sanctuaries; coastal and atmospheric science; climate change; weather; satellite systems; mapping, and other federal ocean and atmospheric programs.
Margaret’s legislative work included enactment of: the Oceans Act of 2000; the Oceans and Human Health Act; the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006; the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act; and the Tsunami Warning and Education Act.
From 1992-1999, Margaret was an environmental attorney at Sidley & Austin in Washington, D.C.