Jeremy Weirich

Jeremy is the Director of NOAA Ocean Exploration.

Jeremy Weirich returned to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in March 2022 to lead NOAA Ocean Exploration, a federal program that coordinates and funds expeditions of exploration around the world with a focus on the deep-sea environment. He previously served as the Vice President for Corporate Strategy at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, a non-profit science organization that develops and manages ground-based and space-based telescopes for NASA and NSF, where he led policy and advocacy for the next generation of U.S. telescopes. Prior to his leadership at AURA, he worked for over ten years on the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Appropriations, the last half as the Staff Director (Majority Clerk) for the subcommittee that funds the Departments of Justice and Commerce, NASA, and the National Science Foundation, having uniquely served that role under both Republican and Democrat chairpersons. Jeremy began his federal career within the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, honorably discharged at the rank of lieutenant commander. He sailed as a deck officer, scientist, and master diver aboard numerous research and hydrographic vessels and coordinated underwater archaeological expeditions worldwide. 

He graduated with a BS in Ocean Studies from Maine Maritime Academy (‘97) and received an MSc in Maritime Archaeology from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom.