The Consortium for Ocean Leadership is pleased to welcome Josh Slater joined the Consortium for Ocean Leadership on 19 January 2016 as a NOAA Fellow.

Josh is a Lieutenant Commander with NOAA’s Commissioned Officer Corps, currently working for the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the NOAA Administrator as an internal liaison/program coordination officer for NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO). Prior to that assignment, Josh was Flag Lieutenant for the Director, OMAO and Director, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. His other previous assignments include: Executive Officer - NOAA Ship Nancy Foster; Operations Officer - NOAA Ship Nancy Foster; Northwest Regional Response Officer with NOAA’s Emergency Response Division (ERD); and Navigation Officer - NOAA Ship McArthur II. During Josh’s time with ERD, he served as Incident Operations Coordinator for multiple major oil spills, including Deepwater Horizon.

During Deepwater Horizon, Josh also served as one of NOAA’s rotating Scientific Support Coordinators. Prior to joining NOAA, he spent a season free-diving and removing derelict fishing nets and other marine debris from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Josh is a qualified NOAA Senior Watch Officer and NOAA Advanced Working Diver. He holds a B.S. in Marine Biology and a M.S. in Marine Science, both from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington.