Amanda McCarty is the Director of NOAA’s Climate Ready Nation initiative. Amanda leads efforts to enhance NOAA's ability to provide products and services that support informed climate action.
Amanda returns to NOAA after three years as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate where she worked on increasing global ambition in climate mitigation and adaptation by providing leadership on the President's Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), working with other governments on accelerating clean energy transitions, collaborating with the private sector on innovative climate solutions, and negotiating global agreements in the United Nations and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Previously, Amanda spent over 14 years at NOAA, as the Division Director for the Fishery Monitoring and Research at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Assistant Director for Programs and Partnerships and Acting Deputy Director of the National Sea Grant Office, Program Manager and Policy Analyst in NOAA’s Climate Program Office, and a Legislative Fellow with the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.
Amanda has a B.S. in biology from Pacific Lutheran University and an M.S. in marine biology from the College of Charleston. Amanda is also a graduate of OAR's Leadership Effectiveness and Advancement Program (LEAP), NOAA's Leadership Competencies Development Program (LCDP), and the Executive and Leadership coaching program at the Gestalt International Study Center.