NOAA Vice Admiral Hann, Overseer of the Hurricane Hunters, to speak at CFDC Annual Meeting

Vice Admiral Nancy Hann of NOAA will be the Keynote Speaker at this year’s CFDC Annual Meeting. The meeting will be held October 23rd at the SUN ‘n FUN Expo Campus in Lakeland.

“We are thrilled to have NOAA’s Vice Admiral Hann join us and share her knowledge and love for the atmosphere, our oceans and science,” said Sean Malott, President & CEO of the CFDC. “She has a unique perspective on hurricane activity and a passion for Polk County from her days overseeing NOAA’s operations in Lakeland.” 

Vice Admiral Hann’s Background

Hann has served in many operational and top management roles as a NOAA Corps officer. In 2017 she took over command of the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) in Lakeland. At the time it was home to the agency’s nine environmental research, reconnaissance and survey aircraft, including the “Hurricane Hunters.” She has also served as a pilot and flight meteorologist on NOAA aircraft. 

Most recently she was selected for promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral, serving as NOAA’s Deputy Under Secretary, and officially serving in the new position as of August 2024. In this role, she is responsible for the day-to-day management of national and international operations for oceanic and atmospheric services, research, and coastal and marine stewardship.  

Weather & Aviation Interests

In Illinois, she said, “I vividly recall the green color of the sky and eerily calm air when there was a tornado in the area, and still enjoy watching a summer thunderstorm. My family have been farmers for many generations and paying attention to weather is a daily part of life. My grandmother kept calendars and wrote the weather on the calendar each day; she kept the calendars for many years.” 

Along with the weather, Hann has also always been interested in aviation. “There was a restaurant on the flightline at the small airport in the town where I grew up. I loved to sit and watch the airplanes taxiing, landing and taking off. The perspective and sense of peace flying in a small airplane, especially above rural areas, is amazing. The focus on the airplane, the weather and the environment puts everything in perspective.” 

The Lakeland Connection

Vice Admiral Hann said NOAA has appreciated the support it receives from Polk County and Lakeland. 

“I had the chance to experience it first-hand as the Commanding Officer at the NOAA AOC the first year we were in the new facility,” she said. “The first few years saw record-breaking hurricane activity, including a direct hit by Hurricane Irma in 2017. The support of everyone in Polk County, especially Lakeland Linder International Airport, enabled us to do our mission for the nation. We often flew concurrent forecast and response missions; the partnership with the community was key to meeting those mission requirements.”

Continuing the partnership and community support helps NOAA accomplish its missions for the nation, she said. 

NOAA’s Impact

When Vice Adm. Nancy Hann speaks at the CFDC Annual Meeting, she will tell attendees about why NOAA is so important to science, research and people around the world.  

“NOAA’s work impacts every citizen, every single day. It’s environmental intelligence provides the weather forecast you look at to decide what to wear, what to do, and where to go,” said Hann.

“NOAA’s work informs food planning and security for agriculture and seafood production and sustainment. NOAA’s work provides the nautical charts used by all mariners. NOAA provides data for all sectors of transportation from sequencing rates and safety for air traffic across the U.S. NOAA is all around you, every day, informing products and services for public safety, commerce, and national security.” 

Working for NOAA

Hann’s educational background led her to NOAA. She has a bachelor’s degree in marine science and biology from the University of San Diego, a master’s degree in aeronautical science and space studies from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. 

She started working for NOAA as a fisheries observer on longline vessels in Hawaii. “The job was my first exposure to NOAA. The boats were out for 30 to 45 days. I was always the only woman, and the boats often did not have a bathroom. That job was a formative experience in my life,” Hann said. “I learned how to get along with almost anyone and learned to really appreciate differences in people. While working in Hawaii I learned of the NOAA ships, NOAA fisheries, and the NOAA Commissioned Corps. I worked at the NOAA Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center as a fisheries oceanographer, and on a NOAA ship as a wage mariner before commissioning in the NOAA Corps in January 1999.” 

Now responsible for operations from satellites and aircraft to weather radars and buoys, she said the issue that concerns her most is “looking across that portfolio and making sure we have the systems, infrastructure and most importantly, the workforce, to serve the nation today and into the future.”   

Proud to Serve

Serving her country is important to her. Hann follows in her father’s footsteps, who served in the Army, and other family members who served in the military. That passion, along with her interest in science, especially weather and the ocean, made NOAA the perfect fit.  

“I am grateful to serve my country in uniform with the responsibility to execute such a critical mission for the nation.”

Hann said if given the chance, she would not change anything in her life. “I believe in the power of positive thinking and preparation to deal with whatever comes my way. I approach each day with an attitude of kindness to others and trying to leave things better than I found them and that has made for a good life.” 

Research and Science

NOAA works with its partners in government, academia and industry to improve aircraft and instruments that collect airborne data that provide information for products and services – and for public safety, commerce and national security, Hann said.  

The agency is working on its “largest ever aircraft recapitalization,” she said. “These new aircraft bring the best capabilities possible to collect data that drive improvements in products and services. NOAA is also continually developing and testing new instruments that become operational and deliver improved data to the nation.” 

Research and science are essential to that end, she said. “NOAA aircraft collect data for hurricane, tornado and atmospheric rivers forecasts; collect data in 37 states to determine water sources and runoff from snowfall; chart our coasts for flood models; and take high resolution imagery after events, such as hurricanes and tornados, to inform emergency management decisions.” 

She added, “As severe weather becomes more frequent and damaging, and coastlines become more populated, it is more important than ever that NOAA drive improvements to deliver the best possible information to the nation.”