Battista is currently branch chief for the Seascape Ecology and Analytics branch.
Battista began his career at NOAA as a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow in 1996. He has over 30 years of professional experience in coastal remote sensing; applied geoacoustics, geology, and littoral mapping; benthic habitat mapping; spatial ecology; coastal and marine planning; disaster response; and integrated biogeographical assessments. Twenty of these years include his work as an oceanographer for the NCCOS Biogeography Branch, and the remaining years for private consulting firms. Battista has extensive experience with ship-based, satellite, unmanned, in situ, and airborne platforms and sensors. In addition, he has extensive project and program management experience; grant, contract, and inter-governmental agreement development; and budget planning and execution. Battista has demonstrated experience working collaboratively across NOAA, with the private sector and academic institutions, and with other State, Federal, and Department of Defense agencies.