Jennifer Day, APR
Jennifer Day, M.S. APR, joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2009. As a federal agency, NOAA works to enrich lives of Americans through science, service and stewardship. Its reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor, keeping the public informed of the changing environment around them every single day.
Nationally, Jennifer has served on the PRSA board of directors and also served as a leader at the chapter and regional level and serves on the executive committee of the Public Affairs and Government Section. She has been honored with the Platinum / Donald Durocher Award in 2019 from the PRSA East Central District, the Lloyd B. Dennis Distinguished Leadership Award in 2018 from the PRSA Public Affairs and Government Section, and the Robert Hefty Distinguished Service Award in 2013 from Detroit Chapter PRSA.
Day has more than 30 years of experience in public relations and communications in the non-profit, agency, and state, federal and international government sectors. At NOAA, she serves as director of communications for NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Previous to this role she led the cross-NOAA Great Lakes Regional Team to create better cross-agency communication and collaboration among its many divisions and programs working to protect and restore the Great Lakes. She also serves as NOAA’s representative on many inter-governmental collaborative initiatives with other government agencies and the public and leading NOAA’s participation in programs that have both regional and national impact.
Prior to her service to NOAA, Day served as the director of communications for the International Joint Commission, under the U.S. Department of State, and provided communications council to Commissioners appointed by the President of the United States and Prime Minister of Canada. She began her government service career as a media relations coordinator for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. She takes great pride in using her communication skills to serve the American public and works regularly with young public relations students and professionals to pursue government service.
Day received her Bachelor of Arts in public relations from Otterbein University and was an active member and chapter officer in PRSSA. She worked on her master’s degree in public relations management and public administration at The Ohio State University before noting the shift to more collaborative government work and transferring to the University of Michigan to complete her Master of Science and reached doctoral candidacy in inter-government collaboration and environment conflict resolution.
Day is a native of the Great Lakes region and currently lives in the Huron River/Lake Erie watershed and on the traditional lands of the Ojibwe and Potawatomi people.