Walker B. Smith is the general counsel for NOAA.  

Prior to joining NOAA, Walker served as the director of the Office of Global Affairs and Policy at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, negotiating and implementing environmental agreements, including the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and working with international partners including the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Health Organization, and the Environment Policy Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation. At EPA, Walker also served as the director of the Office of Civil Enforcement, with responsibility for civil judicial and administrative enforcement of numerous environmental statutes, including the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act, and statutes governing air pollution, waste, and chemicals.  

Walker began her career as an environmental practitioner as a trial attorney in the Environmental Enforcement Section of the United States Department of Justice, where she represented federal agencies, including EPA, NOAA, and the Department of Interior, in federal court actions to enforce environmental laws. She continued in roles of senior attorney, sssistant section chief, and deputy chief of the section during her time with the Department of Justice.

Walker is a recipient of two Presidential Rank Awards and is a member of the Bar of Supreme Court of the United States. She received her J.D. from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law.