Ms. Blackwell is the Director of NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS). As Director, she is responsible for the financial, administrative and programmatic performance of NGS, the lead federal agency for positioning activities in the Nation. She oversees the management and delivery of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), the nation’s consistent coordinate system for latitude, longitude, height, shoreline, gravity measurements and shoreline information throughout the United States. The NSRS supports a wide range of important activities including mapping and charting, navigation, flood risk determination, transportation, land use and ecosystem management.
 
Ms. Blackwell serves as Chair of the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee of the Federal Geographic Data Committee, exercising government-wide leadership in the development and improvement of geodetic surveying specifications, methods, instrumentation, and data transfers. She is a member of NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee providing advice to the NOAA Administrator on matters related to hydrographic services. She represents NOAA on the interagency Alaska Mapping Executive Committee and the 3D Elevation Program Executive Forum.
 
A graduate of Tufts University, Ms. Blackwell earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. She received a master's in business administration from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.