Margaret Adelia Davidson

Margaret Adelia Davidson CHARLESTON - Margaret Adelia Davidson aka Delia, age 67 , died in Charleston, May 23. Margaret was a hard working visionary in the global coastal community. Daughter to Angele Sarrazin Davidson and Jerry Davidson. She was raised in Fort Worth, Texas.Margaret earned her law degree from Louisiana State University. She later earned a masters degree in Marine Policy and Resource Economics from the University of Rhode Island. She also served as a special counsel and Assistant Attorney General for Louisiana Department of Justice and later as the Executive Director of South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. Margaret joined NOAA in 1995, as the founding director, of NOAA's Coastal Service Center (CSC) where she created a customer-driven organization that accelerated the use of technology, tools,and skills required to make informed coastal decisions at all levels of government. She then served as acting director of the office of Ocean and Coastal Resources Management when that office and CSC merged to form the new office for Coastal Management. Ms.Davidson took on the challenge of a new position NOAA senior leader for Coastal Inundation and Resilience.Margaret served on many numerous local, state and federal committees. She focused her work on reduction of risk associated with extreme weather events and climate adaptation. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Thailand, American Meteorological Society Fellow and a Zurich Fellow for climate adaptation. She was also awarded two presidential merit awards and was part of team for which Al Gore was awarded a Nobel Prize.She was a scholar in residence at Scripps Oceanic Institute. Her greatest honor was the Margaret A Davidson stewardship award, with The Coastal Estuarine Research Foundation. Margaret was the consummate net worker. Her life and career will cast a long shadow for those who follow the trail she blazed. Delia loved music, dancing, traveling and organic food. She met Karen Stevens in Charleston in 1983. Soul mates for some 30 yrs. before marrying in our nation's capital in the summer of 2013. Delia is survived by her wife, Karen, and her sister, Diane Davidson. Donations in lieu of flowers to The Human Rights Campaign or The Conservancy Fund. There will be a memorial service for friends and family on June 1st at 11:00AM, Charleston Cremation Center, 2059 Wambaw Creek Rd.,Charleston, SC 29492. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston