Ms. Candace Nachman is the U.S. Coast Guard’s Senior Ocean Policy and Program Advisor, focusing on climate change, marine environmental protection, the marine transportation system, living marine resource protection, Arctic and polar waters, marine scientific research, marine and coastal planning, and maritime threats, such as illegal fishing, sea level rise, and maritime domain awareness. In this role, she coordinates intra- and interagency ocean-related policy development and scientific cooperation. Prior to joining the U.S. Coast Guard team, Ms. Nachman worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she served as a Senior Policy Advisor with NOAA Fisheries from November 2014-April 2022. Candace raised the profile of the important science, management, and policy work at the core of the NOAA Fisheries mission, focusing primarily on offshore energy and Arctic issues. Candace also previously served eight years in the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources ensuring activities conducted in the marine environment did not negatively affect marine mammals or subsistence uses of marine mammals, working mostly on requests from the oil and gas industry in Alaska. She was also a post-graduate intern with NOAA’s National Ocean Service’s Office of Coast Survey working to update the maritime boundaries on our nation’s nautical charts and a graduate intern at the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami, Florida, conducting socioeconomic assessments of fishing communities in the South Atlantic.

Ms. Nachman has extensive experience working with Indigenous communities and Tribes in the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas region of Alaska and is skilled at interagency engagement and partnerships. Candace holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science’s Marine Affairs and Policy program and a Bachelor of Art’s degree in Marine Science Affairs, with a double minor in Business Administration and Geology, from the University of Miami.