Chelsea is the Director of the Climate Adaptation Partnerships (CAP) Program, formerly known as the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment (RISA) program. In this role she leads a NOAA team that supports the CAP network of regionally-based teams, each working with local partners to advance equitable adaptation and co-create community solutions to their pressing weather and climate challenges. Chelsea has served as a co-chair for the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Social Sciences Coordinating Committee and supported multiple National Climate Assessment reports. Chelsea has a background in climate adaptation, environmental conservation and international development, with a focus on the human dimensions of climate change and marine systems. She started her career in Madagascar, working with the Wildlife Conservation Society and USAID’s Environment and Development program. There she helped to incorporate a livelihood perspective into the country’s first national climate change vulnerability assessment and develop recommendations for integrating climate into national marine conservation planning and policy. Chelsea has worked to strengthen marine protected areas and small-scale fisheries governance across Latin America, serving as Fauna & Flora International’s Regional Marine Program Manager for Latin America & the Caribbean. Having previously served as a Knauss Fellow in NOAA’s Climate Program Office, Chelsea returned to NOAA as a social scientist with the CAP program. Chelsea holds degrees in Marine Affairs and Environment & Development.