RISE 2019 Conference

Dr. Maria Honeycutt, CFM, is the Assistant Director for Natural Disaster Resilience at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), where she works across the Federal government and with diverse partners at regional, state, and local levels to enhance resilience policy and practice. She co-chairs the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Resilience Science and Technology, a new interagency forum for coordinating and facilitating development and use of resilience-oriented S&T and R&D. Dr. Honeycutt is detailed to OSTP from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal Management, where since 2008 she has applied her expertise in coastal geoscience and hazard mitigation towards developing national policy and tools that build community resilience to flooding. Prior to joining NOAA, Dr. Honeycutt served as a Congressional Science Fellow (sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey and Geological Society of America) for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (FL), where her issue portfolio included natural hazards, flood insurance reform, water resources, climate change, and fisheries. She spent the preceding seven years as an engineering consultant leading post-hurricane flood recovery mapping projects along the Gulf Coast for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Dr. Honeycutt got her start in hazards science and policy as a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow at FEMA, contributing to post-disaster forensic studies and national building science guidance. Dr. Honeycutt earned a B.A. in geology from Smith College, an M.S. and Ph.D. in geological oceanography from the University of Delaware, and is professionally registered as a Certified Floodplain Manager.