Suzanne Van Cooten, Ph.D.
Suzanne Van Cooten is the Regional Administrator of the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (SC CASC), one of the nine regional centers that form the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Center Network. This position was formerly known as "Center Director".
Prior to accepting the Regional Administrator position in the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, Suzanne Van Cooten, Ph.D., led the National Weather Service (NWS) efforts to increase NWS recruitment, retention, and respectful engagement with tribal communities as the leader of the Advancing Sustained Collaboration & Engagement with Native Tribes (ASCENT) program within the NWS Office of Organizational Excellence.
Suzanne has more than 32 years of service in the NWS, NOAA, and academia. She has served as the Hydrologist In Charge of the National Weather Service (NWS) Lower Mississippi Forecast Center (LMRFC) in Slidell, LA that received the Department of Commerce’s highest honors for decision support services in numerous flood and hurricane events. Prior to LMRFC, she served as Deputy Chief of the Warning Research Development Division (WRDD) at NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) before accepting an interim IPA assignment to become the University of Oklahoma’s (OU) National Sea Grant Weather and Climate Extension Specialist. She has also served as the Chief Scientist of the NWS National Data Buoy Center, an operational NWS weather forecaster in Fort Worth and New Orleans, a Hydrometeorological Analysis and Support (HAS) forecaster and hydrologist at LMRFC, and regional and national program manager for NWS observing systems.
A citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Suzanne continues to support efforts to diversify our nation’s STEAM workforce. She has authored peer-reviewed publications and pod casts on this subject and her research findings. Throughout her career, Suzanne has served as a research mentor to NOAA Hollings scholars, NWS Pathways students, and student volunteers at NDBC, NSSL, and LMRFC in addition to serving on M.S. and Ph.D. committees for minority students. She earned a B.S. in Meteorology from OU and M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of New Orleans.