Coastal Services Center

Deputy Director: Jeffrey (Jeff) Payne, Ph.D.

Dr. Jeffrey Payne has served as the deputy director of the NOAA Coastal Services Center since 1998. He also leads the Southeast and Caribbean Regional Team, a NOAA-wide effort to improve the value of NOAA services to the Southeast states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Before joining the Center, Payne was deputy director of NOAA's Office of Policy and Strategic Planning in Washington, D.C. From 1991 to 1994, Payne worked for the Office of Management and Budget, serving as budget examiner for the NOAA bureau and the Marine Mammal Commission. He also served a year in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow.

Payne received a doctorate in geophysical oceanography from Texas A&M University and a bachelor's degree in geology from West Virginia University. While at Texas A&M, Payne was employed by the Geodynamics Research Institute as a research associate. He has conducted extensive ship-based geological and geophysical research and consulting work with 380 days logged at sea, and has published on scientific, technical, coastal management, and public policy topics.

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