Eleanor Pierel
Climate Science Manager
Washington, D.C.
Eleanor is the Climate Science Manager at Ocean Conservancy working to advance evidence
–
based
climate solutions as part of OC’s Science Team.
She works across the organization and with external
partners on
climate
–
related topics, including blue carbon, adaptation, and community resilience.
Prior to her position at Ocean Conservancy
, Eleanor
was a member of the 2022 John A. Knauss Marine
Policy Fellowship serving as the Climate Policy Fellow to NOAA’s first
Senior Advisor for Climate and one
of the first female Vice Chairs of the IPCC, Ko Barrett. In this role, Eleanor worked across NOAA and
other federal agencies to advance the administration’s climate policy goals to build a Climate
–
Ready
Nation. Eleanor al
so supported the IPCC
’s Gender Action Team and was a member of the US Delegation
to the IPCC and NOAA Delegation to COP27, where she spoke about gender and climate change during
one of the US Center’s Climate Conversations.
Eleanor
has always had
a passion
for
identifying community needs, conducting policy
–
relevant research,
and communicating science. This led her to George Washington University where
she discovered an
interest in sustainability, private sector engagement, and international climate policy c
ulminating in
attending COP21 as a student representative
. Recognizing the need for additional community
–
focused
research,
Eleanor accepted a graduate student position in the University of South Carolina’s Department
of Geography where she worked with Dr.
Kirstin Dow and the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and
Assessments, a NOAA funded lab, on co
–
produced community
–
focused research. Her master’s degree
focused on the impacts of sea level rise on coastal agriculture using a multidisciplinary approach
blending
social science and remote sensing.
For her doctoral research, Eleanor continued to work with
small business owners in multiple sectors because understanding small business decisions and
challenges during disasters can support broader community resilience
when confronted with the
impacts of
climate change.
