Staff Leadership

Rebecca R. Holyoke, Ph.D., is the chief of staff of NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS). In this capacity, she serves as a strategic advisor to the NOS assistant administrator, deputy assistant administrator and other NOS senior leadership. She provides coordination of line office-wide programmatic and administrative operations, facilitates high-priority processes, and participates in decision-making to enhance organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

Prior to assuming this role, Dr. Holyoke worked in NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, our nation's system of underwater parks. As their deputy director, she provided oversight of the office's human resources, budget formulation, strategic planning, and administrative efforts. Dr. Holyoke also served as the sanctuary system's national advisory council coordinator, ensuring the effective management, operation, and engagement of 15 advisory councils and as their strategic planning coordinator. She began her career with the sanctuary system in 2009 as a John A. Knauss marine policy fellow.

Before her career with NOAA, Dr. Holyoke conducted research on chemical speciation in hydrothermal vents, salt lakes, and freshwater iron seeps; studied the influence of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginia) biodeposits on sediment nutrient dynamics in the Chesapeake Bay; and worked as a wetlands biologist and environmental consultant. She earned a Bachelor of Science in biology with a minor in chemistry from Brescia University and a Ph.D. in environmental chemistry from the University of Maryland’s Marine-Estuarine Environmental Science Program. Dr. Holyoke conducted her postdoctoral research at the University of Delaware College of Marine and Earth Studies in Lewes, Delaware.