Laura Grimm is the chief of staff for NOAA, performing the duties of Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator.

Prior to her appointment at NOAA, Laura served as Director of Ocean Markets at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) US Oceans, creating innovative strategies and market-based solutions working with business leaders across the sustainable blue economy. Laura has international ocean policy experience working for the Pew Charitable Trusts' International Fisheries project, where she helped strengthen electronic monitoring programs and transparency on the high seas to prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) products entering seafood markets. 

Throughout her career, Laura has developed and managed programs for marine ecosystems and watersheds across the United States by using collaborative relationships with industry, fishermen, scientists and other key actors. This includes her work for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation managing budgets, work plans and projects alongside NOAA National Marine Sanctuary staff. She brings place-based applications from her time at Mobile Baykeeper managing a myriad of programs including a multi-year NOAA Marine Debris program and brought a new Americorps program into the Mobile Bay Watershed. 

Laura began her career gaining field experience as a field technician at the Fisheries Ecology Lab at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, where she oversaw fisheries independent surveys, led tagging and acoustic monitoring programs, conducted habitat assessments, and managed research databases. 

Laura holds a master’s in marine science from the University of South Alabama, Fisheries Ecology Lab under Dr. Sean Powers, and a bachelor’s in environmental studies from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.