Paula Bontempi

Paula Bontempi is an American biological oceanographer with over 25 years of experience. She serves as the sixth dean and second woman to lead the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, where she is also a professor. After earning her doctorate at URI, she spent 18 years at NASA, rising to acting deputy director of the Earth Science Division, overseeing ocean biology, biogeochemistry, carbon cycle research, and satellite missions. A fellow of The Oceanography Society, she contributed to NASA's Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team (UAPIST), established in 2022, as the sole earth scientist, focusing on data collection and analysis for UAP reports, including underwater sightings. In interviews, she emphasized scientific rigor, noting no evidence of extraterrestrial origins and advocating stigma-free reporting.