Natasha White, Ph.D., Management and Program Analyst, NOAA Office of Education

Natasha D. White, Ph.D. earned her Master’s and Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from Florida A&M University in 2002 and 2008, respectively. In 2007, she was awarded the NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) Graduate Sciences Program Fellowship, through which she was hired by the NOAA. From 2007-2018, Natasha worked as an Environmental Scientist with the NOAA National Ocean Service where she studied the impacts of environmental contaminants of emerging concern on the health of marine mammals, fish, and other marine species. Publications from her research on contaminant body burden and impacts to marine mammals and sediment contaminant levels in South Carolina have been used by congressmen in congressional inquiries and are currently being used as justification in support of updates to policies that relate to perfluorinated compounds in the environment.

Dr. White joined NOAA’s Office of Education in 2018 as a program manager with the NOAA EPP/MSI program. She currently manages the EPP/MSI Undergraduate Scholarship Program and supports the management of the NOAA Cooperative Science Centers. Dr. White is passionate about the goals and objectives of the EPP/MSI program to ensure candidates from historically excluded communities gain access to education and training in STEM disciplines relevant to NOAA’s mission. She was selected to represent NOAA in interagency activities, including the federally mandated Interagency Working Group for Inclusion in STEM where she leads the Workforce Subcommittee.

Dr. White is a recent graduate of the Graduate School USA’s Executive Leadership Program and has been recognized for her achievements, including NOAA Team Member of the Month, NCCOS People’s Committee EEO and Diversity Award, NSF Hearts of G.O.L.D. Diversity Leadership award and the National Ocean Service EEO and Diversity Awards.