Laurel Bryant retired in December of 2019 after 25 years with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), a branch of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Graduating in 1988 from the University of Washington with a B.S. in Political Economics and a focus on environmental sciences and policy, in 1989, Laurel began working in the U.S. House of Representatives’ Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, predecessor to today’s Natural Resources Committee. In 1994, she jumped ship to join NOAA Fisheries where she served in a number of capacities advising the agency’s leadership in strategic communications and partnerships, including serving as the Designated Federal Officer managing the agency’s advisory body, the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee. During her tenure, she developed and launched a number of key programs to provide more timely information about the agency’s science and stewardship mission. These included the weekly electronic newsletter FishNews, and seafood web interface FishWatch, and the recent FishWatch Partnership program. In the last eight years of her tenure, she helped establish the Office of Communications within the agency, serving as its Chief of External Affairs. As Chief of External Affairs, Laurel focused on building strategic partnerships for the agency to strengthen its communications with a broader spectrum of stakeholders involved with the seafood supply chain and build greater familiarity and trust in U.S. fisheries as the global leader in responsible fisheries management. Her last initiative prior to retirement was the launching of a two year campaign aimed at educating the public and building support for expansion of U.S. produced seafood—both wild-capture and farmed. These initiatives and the programs continue as mainstays in NOAA Fisheries’ outreach and communication efforts. Laurel and her husband Alan Risenhoover, also retired from NOAA, moved into their new home in Kayenta in June 2020.