Ms. Emily Menashes has been selected as the new Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations at NOAA Fisheries. Currently serving as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Programs and Administration at NOAA Research, Menashes will officially assume her new role at Fisheries on September 25, 2023. In this role, she will provide oversight of the agency’s budget as well as its facilities operations nationally. She will also oversee the headquarters offices of Human Capital Management; International Affairs, Trade and Commerce; Law Enforcement; Aquaculture; Policy; Communications; EEO; and the implementation of the National Seafood Strategy.
Menashes brings 24 years of experience working within the federal government on a wide range of coastal and ocean conservation and management issues. She held leadership-level positions across several line offices including NOAA Fisheries, NOAA Ocean Service, and NOAA Research. She also held a yearlong detail as the Deputy Director for Ocean and Coastal Policy at the White House Council on Environmental Policy.
“Emily’s extensive experience in federal environmental policy, and her deep familiarity with NOAA, uniquely position her to help guide the agency in her new role as our Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations,” said NOAA Fisheries’ Assistant Administrator Janet Coit. “It’s a crucial role for our agency and we are thrilled she is stepping into it.”
Other leadership positions Menashes held at NOAA include Senior Policy Advisor and Acting NOAA Deputy Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff at the Ocean Service, and over a decade as the Deputy Director in the Office of Sustainable Fisheries where she led action on complex national policy and regulatory issues regarding the science and management of marine fishery resources and safe and sustainable seafood.
“I began my career as a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow in Fisheries and stayed within Fisheries for the next 17 years in positions within the Office of Protected Resources and Sustainable Fisheries. I am incredibly excited to return to the Fisheries family in this new role,” said Menashes.
“My immediate goals are to continue the outstanding work underway to build and nurture an inclusive and engaged workforce and do everything I can to break down organizational barriers to make it easier and more efficient to fulfill our mission while we face the growing impact of climate change.”
Menashes has been devoted to coastal and marine issues since her college days. As she stated in a 2022 interview, “I knew I wanted to pursue a career that involved the ocean after doing my college capstone research on the interaction between ecology and economics in the management of the New England groundfishery. The fascinating and challenging interplay between the environment, people, and decision-making is what drew me to NOAA and what continues to excite me about the work we do.”
Menashes grew up in Pennsylvania and Connecticut and holds an M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University and a B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies from Bowdoin College. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her family, a rambunctious dog, and two ornery cats.
Mr. Jim Landon was serving as Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations. He will return to his existing role as the Director of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement. Landon stepped in after the departure of Dr. Paul Doremus, who served in the role from 2011 to 2022.
