Rachael A. Dempsey is the National Ocean Service (NOS) Deputy Assistant Administrator (DAA) for Navigation, Observations, and Positioning (NOP) and Acting DAA for Coastal Zone Management (CZM). She joined NOS in 2023 following a 28 year career as a Meteorology/ Oceanography and Information Warfare Officer in the United States Navy. She has broad meteorological and oceanographic operational prediction expertise and significant leadership experience to include Command of an anti-submarine warfare center in Japan and a Fleet Weather Center in California. Rachael also had the privilege to serve as the first female Information Warfare Commander for the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and as the Maritime Operations Center Director for Fleet Cyber Command, Commander TENTH Fleet and Joint Task Force Cyber (Navy).
Rachael currently maintains full responsibility for establishing, managing, and providing strategic direction for the NOP programs, which include the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), the Office of Coast Survey (OCS), and the National Geodetic Survey (NGS). As acting DAA for CZM, she provides strategic direction to and oversees NOS coastal management and scientific activities, emergency response, education, conservation and community outreach through the Office of Coastal Management (OCM), Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), National Center for Coastal and Ocean Science (NCCOS) and Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). She further provides strategic direction to NOS’s information technology, data management and modeling programs.
Ms. Dempsey earned her bachelor’s degree in marine science from Jacksonville University in Florida and holds master’s degrees in meteorology and oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School and in national security strategy from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.