After more than 40 years of civil service, Deborah Lee, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) director, is retiring on February 28, 2025. Known for her passion for managing our nation’s water resources, Lee has been a dedicated and innovative steward of our nation’s freshwater, benefiting people, the environment, and the economy.
As an award-winning and nationally recognized engineer and professional hydrologist, Lee’s career was divided between time at NOAA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Early in her career she served as a hydrologist at NOAA GLERL and then for the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Ohio River Forecast Center. Her leadership and management skills grew and were acknowledged during her time with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where she served as Chief of the Water Management of the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division and as its Acting Regional Business Director.
As GLERL director over the past ten years, Lee applied her expertise in the region to create partnerships that accelerated GLERL’s research to application on some of the Great Lakes most pressing issues. She oversaw the transitioning from research to operations of NOAA’s Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) forecast to NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, and of the Great Lakes Operational Forecast System (GLOFS) to NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services. The GLOFS is used by NWS to predict Great Lakes water levels, temperature, currents and waves in its marine forecasts, and by the U.S. Coast Guard for search and rescue operations. She also fostered GLERL’s ‘Omics program and the important research that predicted the potential impact to the fishery from invasive carp.
Lee’s legacy reaches far beyond NOAA. First, with her position as Regional Team Lead for NOAA’s Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team, she represented NOAA in the execution of the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement with Canada and led NOAA’s mission under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative where she built several successful regional coalitions across the U.S. and Canada and with private industry. Her creativity, adaptability and resilience helped her align these program efforts with NOAA’s vision, mission, and goals in partnering with stakeholders inside and outside of NOAA. She also served as the U.S. Co-chair of the International Joint Commission’s Science Advisory Board’s Research Coordination Committee. Always open to new and challenging assignments, Lee took on the leadership roles as the Co-chair of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force and as Senior Advisor to the National Invasive Species Council.
Lee has been recognized with numerous professional awards throughout her career, including The Ohio State University Distinguished Alumni Award, the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental Water Resources Institute Lifetime Achievement Award and President’s Medal, and nominated by Eminence to the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers.
Join us in thanking Director Lee for her profound impact on NOAA Research and the Great Lakes region throughout her remarkable career!