Stuart Levenbach

Stuart Levenbach is the Chief of Staff for NOAA. In this role, he provides direct support to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere in administering the overall operations of NOAA. On behalf of the Under Secretary, he ensures that NOAA offices comply with the policy directives and objectives of the Secretary of Commerce and resolves major policy and programmatic operational issues.

Prior to joining NOAA, Levenbach served in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As a deputy branch chief and senior policy analyst in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (2012-2017), he led the interagency review of nationally significant regulations promulgated by NOAA, Department of the Interior, and several other natural resource agencies. As an OMB, program examiner (2008-2012) he had responsibility for NOAA programs while also working on the President’s Budget for fiscal years 2008 through 2013, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and funding related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Levenbach is a former NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellow, with the Republican staff for the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard. He also managed a community agro-forestry project as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana.

Levenbach, a native of Michigan, earned a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan in both Biology and Political Science. He earned his doctorate in marine ecology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his research on species interactions in kelp forests has been published in leading journals in the field of ecology.