Michaela Noble, a member of the Senior Executive Service since 2016, is the Maritime Administration’s Associate Administrator for Environment and Compliance. In this role, she oversees the Office of Innovation, Office of Environmental Compliance, Office of Safety and Office of Security. Ms. Noble oversees these programs promoting the safety, security, and environmental integrity of the U.S. Maritime Transportation System, at home and abroad, through collaboration and expert advice.

Ms. Noble started her federal career in 2008 at the Maritime Administration as the senior environmental attorney. In 2012, she joined the U.S. Coast Guard to serve as Chief of the Environmental Law Division, directing delivery of legal services, advice and guidance on maritime and environmental law and policy issues at the international, national, and regional level. 

Ms. Noble joined the Department of the Interior (DOI) in 2016 as Director of the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, responsible for directing and coordinating environmental policy to achieve Department-wide compliance with the full range of environmental laws and policies. In that role she led the Department’s National Environmental Policy Act streamlining initiatives, reducing the average time to complete Environmental Impact Statements from 5 to 2.5 years. She held several other senior executive leadership positions with DOI, including as the Renewable Energy Program Director for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, in which she established the national program for the safe and environmentally sound development, installation, operation, and decommissioning of the United States’ offshore renewable energy activities. 

Before joining the federal government, Ms. Noble practiced maritime and environmental law in New Orleans, and she is licensed to practice law in both Louisiana and Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Maritime Administration from Texas A&M and a Juris Doctorate degree in Maritime Law from Tulane University.