To mark the 50th anniversary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in February 2020, the administration that studies and monitors our evolving planet, interviewed retired Rear Admiral Evelyn Fields, the first Black woman to lead the NOAA Corps.

In 1996, Fields was named one of the top 50 minority women in science and engineering by the National Technical Association (NTA.

She began her career in 1972 as a cartographer at NOAA’s Atlantic Marine Center in Norfolk, Virginia, where she worked on nautical charting surveys. When the NOAA Corps began recruiting women as commissioned officers, Fields became the first Black female to join. By 1989, she was the first woman to command a NOAA ship. In 1999, she reached the rank of rear admiral and took the helm as NOAA Corps Director.

"When I made admiral that was just as significant to me as having command [of the McArthur]," Fields told AccuWeather. "I don't know that one was more impactful than the other, but they each certainly were at the time."