Tahara Dawkins is the Director of NOAA’s Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office. For over 15 years, Tahara has been involved in space policy and the policy, security, and market issues related to commercial remote sensing. Ms Dawkins first joined NOAA in 2001 where she was a Senior Licensing Officer in the Commercial Remote Sensing Licensing Regulatory Affairs Office.

From 2008-2011, Tahara worked for NGA where she focused on the security and counterintelligence implications of the Government’s use of commercial satellite imagery. While at NGA, she also was instrumental in commercial remote sensing policy development for the Intelligence Community. Tahara re-joined NOAA in her current role as Director of the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office in 2011.