Capt. Nancy Hann assumes command of NOAA Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Fla.

NOAA Corps Capt. Nancy Hann assumed command of the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Fla., on Aug. 31, 2017. The center is home to the agency’s nine environmental research, reconnaissance and survey aircraft, including the agency’s “hurricane hunter” planes. Hann relieves Capt. Michael Silah, who served as the center’s commanding officer since March 2016. Silah will lead NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and the NOAA Corps upon his promotion to rear admiral in September Hann has served in many operational and management assignments during her NOAA career, most recently as OMAO’s chief of staff. Hann has served aboard NOAA aircraft as both a pilot and flight meteorologist, and has supported a variety of scientific missions and multiple unmanned aircraft missions as a pilot and project manager. Her previous experience includes serving as executive officer at the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic, associate director at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and NOAA liaison to the U.S. Pacific Command. She has served aboard two NOAA ships and is a certified diver. Hann holds a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a master’s degree in aeronautical science and space studies from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and a bachelor’s degree in marine science and biology from the University of San Diego.