Amilynn Adams
Vice-Chair
Pronouns: She/Her
A self-avowed watery hippie and boat geek, Ms. Adams came back to Maryland and The Frederick Center after having worked for Amazon.com as an Operations Manager at a Fulfillment Center in DuPont, Washington. Prior to Amazon, she had served 24 years on active duty in various command, operational, staff, and senior executive roles within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a NOAA Corps Officer. She is currently employed as a Marine Transportation System Specialist with the USCG in Alexandria, VA. Ms. Adams proudly served NOAA and the Nation for 24 years while accumulating 14 years of sea duty with many more years of maritime experience gained prior to NOAA in the boat livery, marine salvage, and assistance towing industries operating from the port of Barnegat Light, New Jersey. Her commands include the NOAA Research Vessel Gloria Michelle and NOAA Ships Oregon II and Pisces. A hawse pipe sailor, she has sailed the waters of the North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Northern and Tropical Pacific and the frozen seas of the US Arctic. Ms Adams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in oceanography and biology from Millersville University. She is also a USCG-credentialed mariner holding an unlimited USCG license and a dynamic positioning operator certificate from the Nautical Institute.
A courageous and strategic leader, Ms. Adams leveraged her coming out as transgender in a service-wide announcement on the day that Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced the end of the military’s ban on transgender service members. Her foresight and service-wide messaging in announcing her truth greatly advanced visibility and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people throughout NOAA. Ms. Adams currently resides in beautiful Brunswick, Maryland. In her spare time she enjoys traveling and continues to plot a course toward opening her own craft brewery. She is a passionate nature-lover, and can be found recharging her spirit by hiking, cycling, swimming, tubing, or snowboarding in the scenic hills of Western Maryland with her three teenagers.
