Lindsey Kraatz, Ph.D.

Dr. Lindsey Kraatz joined NOAA in 2014. Dr. Kraatz currently serves as the Senior Science Advisor for NOAA Fisheries. In this role, Lindsey manages the internal and external relationships for the NOAA Fisheries Chief Science Advisor & Director of Scientific Programs, provides day-to-day advisory support as well as manages information flow for the front office of NOAA Fisheries headquarters. Before her time at NOAA Fisheries, Lindsey served as a policy analyst to the NOAA Chief Scientist and Acting Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Management assisting with multiple research and policy-based projects, including the development of the first-ever NOAA Chief Scientist’s Annual Report and the NOAA Resilience Framework. 

Lindsey previously worked on Capitol Hill as the Ocean and Coastal Policy Advisor for Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and later served as a Legislative Assistant and acting Legislative Director for Representative Ami Bera (D-CA). Additionally, she served as the Legislative Representative at the Coastal States Organization, a non-governmental organization that works with the state coastal zone managers to develop and implement national coastal and ocean policy.

Dr. Kraatz earned a B.S. in Marine Science from Eckerd College and a Ph.D. in Physical and Geological Oceanography at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science/College of William and Mary. Her research focused on sediment transport in the York River of the Chesapeake Bay at the interface of marine geology, benthic biology, and physical oceanography.