As we celebrate Women's History Month, learn about Pamela Chelgren's journey as the first female officer in the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps in this profile.

NOAA Corps recruiters will be attending the events listed below in 2023. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for details as the event approaches.

February

Feb. 8 - Boise State Career Fair, Boise, ID, 1000-1400

Feb. 14 - Alabama A&M University Virtual Fair, Virtual, 1100-1500

Feb. 14-16 - Oceanology International, San Diego, CA, 1000-1600

Feb 14 - Colorado State University Career Fair, Fort Collins, CO, 1030-1530

In this NOAA Corps officer profile, we catch up with NOAA Twin Otter pilot Ensign Sarah Cozart, who is currently assigned to the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida.

How did you become interested in science and aviation?

During the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season, NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft flew more than 582 mission hours to collect atmospheric data that is critical to hurricane forecasting and research, passing through the eye of a hurricane 65 times and deploying over 1,700 scientific instruments.

The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps) and the National Naval Officers Association (NNOA) have renewed their agreement to work together to develop a diverse and inclusive workforce dedicated to the science and service of our nation.

Through a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed on Dec. 1 by NOAA Corps Rear Adm. Nancy Hann, director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, and NNOA President Rear Adm. Sinclair M. Harris, U.S. Navy (Ret), the two organizations will collaborate with the goals of:

NOAA and Kansas State University (K-State) Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus signed an agreement on Oct. 1 to collaborate on a first-of-its kind program to prepare students to serve as officers and pilots with the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps), one of the nation’s eight uniformed services. NOAA Corps officers pilot NOAA’s specialized aircraft and support a variety of missions, including hurricane research, reconnaissance and surveillance, marine mammal and snow surveys, coastal mapping and emergency response.

In January 2021, U.S. Coast Guard officer Lt. j.g. Rebecca Edmonds, found herself in an unusual situation for a Coast Guard member: serving as an officer of the deck aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship. In the 72nd year of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI), the San Diego-based NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker, one of NOAA’s five fisheries survey vessels, was short-handed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps received significant new authorities to support NOAA’s mission on Dec. 23, 2020, when President Trump signed a bill that will expand and enhance the uniformed service.

Long before she was Commander Sarah Duncan, the commanding officer of NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, she was just Sarah. She and her cousins, seated around the dining room table playing cribbage with her grandfather, hung onto his every word as he shared tales from his adventures at sea. Working as a tugboat captain who navigated the British Columbia Inside Passage with regularity, her grandfather planted a seed of inspiration that he may never imagined would bloom into a seafaring career for his granddaughter.

• Efren R. Krisher
• Kenneth Sigley
• Bernard N. Mandelkern
• Teager A. Bush