Captain Ryan Wattam
Director of the NOAA Corps Commissioned Personnel Center
Capt. Wattam commissioned into the NOAA Corps in 2006 as a part of BOTC 109, and has served aboard the NOAA ships Gordon Gunter, Oscar Elton Sette, Ronald H. Brown, and most recently as commanding officer of NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow. Ashore, he has served as a coral and seagrass restoration biologist with Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, executive officer of the NOAA Diving Center, executive officer of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division, and as chief of the Commissioned Personnel Center’s Officer Career Management Division.
Throughout his NOAA Corps career, he had the opportunity to serve in a wide range of exciting detail assignments including working under the atmospheric research observatory chief at the South Pole, serving as divemaster on a project to recover derelict crab pots in the Inside Passage, and serving as the federal representative on a shoreline cleanup assessment team in Houma, Louisiana in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The son of a Naval aviator and a Navy nurse, Capt. Wattam learned what it meant to serve at a very early age. After receiving his Bachelor of Science in marine biology from Spring Hill College, he sought to begin his own life of service and joined the NOAA Corps shortly after graduating.
One of Capt. Wattam’s highest priorities is customer service, and this will be the bedrock of his leadership philosophy while serving as director of the Commissioned Personnel Center.
Capt. Wattam’s notable citations include two Department of Commerce Gold Medals, a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal and four NOAA Corps Commendation Medals, in addition to numerous other individual, unit, and sea service decorations.
United States