Molly Baringer

Dr. Molly Baringer is the Acting Director of NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and a veteran sea-going oceanographer. She has led numerous research projects during her 30-year tenure at AOML, linking ocean circulation patterns and changes to global and regional climate patterns and resulting in over 80 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Baringer has served on more than 21 national and international panels including as secretary of the Physical Oceanography Section of the American Meteorological Society and the International Argo Panel, regularly providing advice and direction on national science policy and program management, including stakeholder negotiations.  Her current role in leading AOML is to champion research performed by a fantastic group of scientists to improve hurricane forecasts, save coral reefs, advance our understanding of ocean ecosystems and climate change, and provide the foundational observations that underpin everything NOAA does to inform and protect the public. 

Dr. Baringer received her doctoral degree in 1994 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the field of physical oceanography. She is also a graduate of NOAA’s Leadership Competency Development Program and the National Weather Service’s Building Leaders for a Solid Tomorrow (BLAST) program, and a recipient of the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal award for her role on the Western Boundary Time Series Team.