CPAESS Chief Science Advisor Neil Jacobs nominated to lead NOAA
UCAR | CPAESS Science Advisor Neil Jacobs has been nominated by President Trump to be the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere.
UCAR | CPAESS scientist Neil Jacobs who serves as the Chief Science Advisor to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Jacobs currently serves as the chief science advisor to the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) within the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS).
He is credited with spearheading the creation of the NOAA Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) to support community development of the Unified Forecast System (UFS). The UFS “supports research and development across the enterprise, inspires application-based research, and accelerates the transition of research innovations to forecasting operations in NOAA’s NWS.” (Source.)
Jacobs envisioned a barrier-free, open-source environment wherein NOAA and the research community – public and private sectors – could collaborate on government data and modeling systems like the UFS. The goal: to collectively solve forecasting problems in order to improve public safety during hazardous weather events and business operations that rely on accurate forecasts. This large-scale collaboration is unique and a model for future ventures involving government, academic, and industry partners.
In addition, Jacobs serves on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) SpectrumX advisory board, another approach to building relationships among university, government, and industry partners. SpectrumX is “the world’s largest academic hub where all radio spectrum stakeholders can innovate, collaborate, and contribute to maximizing social welfare of this resource.”
Jacobs was elected a 2025 Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS).
He is the former acting NOAA administrator, has been affiliated with the World Meteorological Organization, and has served as chair of forecasting improvements for the AMS where he continues as a visiting policy fellow. He is the 2023 recipient of the AMS Kenneth C. Spengler Award for “leadership in fostering community collaboration across the weather, water, and climate enterprise.”
