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Sponsored by the Paleoclimate Program, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, National Science Foundation.

AMS Policy Program underwriters: ITT, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and SAIC.

2008 Speaker Bios

Select a Speaker Richard Anthes Chuck Atkins Jonathan Black Bill Blakemore Seth Borenstein James Bradbury Julian Braithwaite Donald Brown Amy Carroll Floyd desChamps Franco Einaudi Nina Fedoroff Peter Folger George Gray John Heimmer Stephanie Herring Paul Higgins Michael Holland Heather Holsinger Maria Honeycutt William Hooke Holmes Hummel Jay Inslee Timothy Killeen James Kimpel Kei Koizumi Neal Lane Michael MacCracken Edward Maibach Elizabeth Malone Berrien Moore Michael Morgan Mark Myers Kathie Olsen Wendy Parker Janet Poppleton Tom Rosenstiel Judy Schneider Keith Seitter Toby Smith Anthony Socci Deb Stirling Josh Trapani Ana Unruh Cohen Dave Verardo Gene Whitney Thomas Wilbanks

Richard Anthes , President, UCAR

Dr. Richard Anthes, President of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and he was the 2007 President of the American Meteorological Society.  Anthes is a highly regarded atmospheric scientist, author, educator and administrator.  He began his career as a student trainee for the U.S. Weather Bureau during the summers of 1962-67. He obtained his bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and worked as a research meteorologist at NOAA’s National Hurricane Research Laboratory from 1968-71. From 1971 to 1981 he was a professor of meteorology at The Pennsylvania State University. During this period he spent a year at the Naval Postgraduate School. In 1981 he joined NCAR, where he became its director in 1986. In 1988 he was selected as president of UCAR.

Anthes is a Fellow of the AMS and the AGU and has won the AMS Meisinger and Charney Awards. In 2003 he received China’s prestigious Friendship Award, the highest award China bestows on foreigners; he was the first atmospheric scientist to receive this award.

He has chaired or participated in over 40 national committees and has published more than 100 articles and books in the areas of tropical cyclones, mesoscale meteorology, and remote sensing using the radio occultation technique. He is the father of one of the worlds most widely used mesoscale models, the Penn StateNCAR mesoscale model, now in its fifth generation (MM5).

Chuck Atkins, Chief of Majority Staff, House Science Committee
Chuck Atkins is Democratic Staff Director of the House Committee on Science.  The Committee is responsible for legislation and oversight of most Federal government civilian research and development programs.  These programs include space, aeronautics, energy, transportation, basic research, math and science education, cooperative industry-government R &D and the environment.  As Staff Director he serves as senior policy advisor to the Ranking Member, managing a staff of 20 professionals, including scientists, engineers and attorneys, in carrying out the oversight and legislative agenda for the Democratic Membership.  He holds Top Secret and DOE “Q” security clearances. 

Chuck began his service in Congress in 1993 after managing the successful campaign for former Congressman Scotty Baesler of Kentucky and serving as his Chief of Staff until 1999.  In 1999 he became Chief of Staff to Congressman Bart Gordon of Tennessee.  Concurrent with his Science Committee responsibilities he also serves a Chief of Staff to the Ranking Member, Rep. Bart Gordon.
In 1995 Chuck was elected and served one term as president of the House Administrative Assistants’/Chiefs’ of Staff Association, a non-partisan professional and education association of senior House staff leaders.  In 1997 he was selected to serve as a John C. Tennis Center for public Service Congressional Staff Fellow for the 105th Congress. 
Other career milestones include founding a community development and housing consulting firm, Atkins-Elrod and Associates in 1977.  In addition to consulting, he formed real estate investment partnerships to re-develop historic properties as housing.  Church also taught political science and public policy at the university level during his career as a consultant.  Prior to consulting he served a Local Government Services Director for a Kentucky regional planning and development district. 
He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1966-1968.  His service included a tour of duty in Vietnam with the 2nd Battalion/4th Marine Regiment.
Mr. Atkins earned a B.S., with honors, from Georgia State University in 1972 with majors in Psychology and Urban Administration.  He earned a M.A. in public administration from The Ohio State University in 1973.

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Jonathan Black , staffer, United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Legislative Aide to Senator Bingaman (D-NM)

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Bill Blakemore , ABC TV science reporter

Bill Blakemore has spearheaded ABC's coverage of global warming, traveling from the tropics to polar regions to report on the impacts and dangers of climate change, as well as possible solutions for it. Currently on "Nature's Edge" and a weekly "Nature's Edge Notebook" on World News with Charles Gibson daily webcast which covers "climate and environment news and all manner of stories where nature and human nature meet.

Blakemore helped create ABC's new multiplatform exploration of global warming in TV, Internet, podcast, radio and print formats. He began focusing on global warming even as he was finishing his 27-year coverage of the entire papacy of Pope John Paul II. Blakemore was part of the ABC News team that won the duPont-Columbia Award for its live coverage in Rome of John Paul's funeral and his successor's election.

Blakemore has been a reporter for ABC News for more than 35 years, covering a wide variety of stories.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Blakemore reported live from ground zero before the trade towers fell, and in following months from Afghanistan on the Taliban's demise; from Pakistan's Frontier Province on fundamentalist electoral victories; and from Karachi after journalist Daniel Pearl's murder.

In 2003 during the start of the Iraq war, Blakemore reached Baghdad just after Saddam Hussein's statue fell, reported on the subsequent confusion there, and got the first on-camera interview with a chief Iraqi biological weapons scientist. In 2004, he reported from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on the frustrated hunt for al-Qaeda leaders.

Blakemore has covered 12 wars since he joined ABC News. They include the 1991 Gulf War, which he covered in Baghdad, two Arab-Israeli wars, and the Palestinian intifada, the Iranian Revolution, the Black September War in Jordan, the Beirut civil war, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and the Indo-Pak Bangladesh war.

Based in New York since 1984, Blakemore has continued to travel widely as a domestic and foreign correspondent covering stories of conflict and politics, the arts, nature and science -- and now global warming and other narratives involving the love-hate relationship between nature and man.

Blakemore was ABC's Vatican correspondent throughout John Paul II's reign. He was ABC's Rome bureau chief for six years, reporting live with Peter Jennings from St. Peter's Square on the day of Pope John Paul's election in 1978.

He traveled on John Paul's plane on most of the pope's 100-plus trips abroad, is author of the Encyclopedia Britannica's major article on John Paul, and has written and reported five documentary specials on him. In addition to those for ABC News, Blakemore wrote and reported the biography, "John Paul, Statesman of Faith," for the Arts and Entertainment network, and, in 2004, an hourlong assessment of John Paul's first 25 years for the New York Times -- Discovery channel.

Overseas, Blakemore has covered six major political assassinations and eight hostage sieges, seven earthquakes, more than a dozen commercial plane crashes, two volcanoes, the long-range effects of the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in Alaska, as well as Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee, the Marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, and, following the latest Iraq war, the complicated administration of the ruins of ancient Babylon. He once spent a year reporting for ABC Radio while traveling around India by motor scooter. During the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran, he was first to report on the hidden practice of "3rd Party Conflict Resolution."

Blakemore has reported many intercultural stories in the arts, including Yo-Yo Ma's crossover music and ongoing Silk Road Project. He reported on a full solar eclipse from the medieval Persian city of Isfahan, on Halley's Comet from Eastern Australia, and from Western Australia on the America's Cup and on the human-regimenting dolphins of Shark's Bay. He was also chief science correspondent for the ABC-Discovery Channel weekly science show -- for which he anchored the live landing of the Mars rover. Blakemore continues to cover a variety of science stories when his schedule permits, focusing especially on the nature of intelligence and brain function, and on nature conservation and the extinctions crisis.

Blakemore also served for six years as ABC's first education correspondent, a beat for which he wrote and reported an influential "American Agenda" special entitled "Common Miracles: The New American Revolution in Learning."

Blakemore coined the word "spotcraft" to describe what he did for a living, and writes and lectures on the nature of professional journalism and how it differs from propaganda. After filing from the Iraqi capital during the 1991 Gulf War, he published a Law Review article entitled "Reporting From Baghdad During The Gulf War: Principles for Judgment."

Blakemore was the first television correspondent to win the Edward R. Murrow Fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he designed and ran a major study series on "TV News and American Foreign Policy."

He is also one of 40 semifinalists chosen by his peers from 1,300 applicants to be NASA's first journalist in space -- a suspended program he still hopes to see revived. He has won many of the most prestigious journalism awards, some a number of times, including the duPont-Columbia, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Overseas Press Club, the Emmy, the Christopher, and the Headliner for a wide range of stories including the politics of John Paul, Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, the science of addictive drugs (anchoring ABC's special, "Alcohol and Cocaine: The secret of Addiction"), the persistent problems of earthquake rescue, the global extinction of montane amphibians, and the unseen obliteration of ocean life. For ABC's Peabody Award-winning 24-hour Millennium 2000 special, Blakemore reported live from Bethlehem.

His experience in print journalism ranges from serving for three years as Beirut correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor in the mid-1970s, to articles in The Washington Post and other papers on the art of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, to writing for the ABCNEWS.com Web site today.

A former literature teacher at the American University of Beirut and the American Community School of Beirut, Blakemore is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut and a native of Chicago. He has served on the faculty and committees of the St. Louis-based American Youth Foundation. In 1986 he was elected a trustee of Wesleyan University.

In addition to his regular coverage of global warming, his current interests, as seen in his "Nightline" report on new discoveries about the mental health of refugees around the world, include the "psychological literacy" of today's journalism.

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James Bradbury is a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Jay Inslee (WA-1), where he has worked for two years primarily on US national energy and climate policy. Previously, James worked as a climate research assistant, earning a Ph.D. in Geosciences, from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst, and a Masters degree in Hydrology from the University of New Hampshire. James can be reached at james.bradbury@mail.house.gov.

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Julian Braithwaite , Head of Global Issues Group British Embassy, Washington, DC

Julian Braithwaite has been the Head of the Global Issues Group at the British Embassy in Washington DC since 2004.  He joined the British Foreign Office in 1994 and began work on the NATO desk covering the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  In 1995 he was seconded to the UN in Zagreb to join UNSRSG Thorvold Stoltenberg’s team during the Eastern Slavonia negotiations.  In 1996 he was posted to the British Embassy in Belgrade where he covered developments in Kosovo.  In 1998 he returned to London to work in the Prime Minister’s office, covering EU affairs in the communications office.  In 1999 he was seconded to General Wesley Clark’s headquarters in SHAPE during the Kosovo intervention.  In 2002 he was seconded to the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he served in Paddy Ashdown’s private office as his Director of Communications.  He was educated at Cambridge and Harvard Universities.

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Dr. Donald A. Brown , Associate Professor for Environmental Ethics, Science and Law in the Science, Technology, and Society Program at Pennsylvania State University; Program Director, Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change; and Director, Pennsylvania Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy

Donald A. Brown is Associate Professor of Environmental Ethics, Science, and Law at Penn State University where he is currently teaching interdisciplinary courses on climate change and sustainable development and acting as Program Director of the Collaborative Program on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change whose secretariat is the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State.  Mr. Brown is also director of the Pennsylvania Environmental Research Consortium, an organization comprised of 56 Pennsylvania universities and the Pennsylvania Departments of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Natural Resources. Before holding these positions he was an environmental lawyer for the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and Program Manager for United Nations Organizations at the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of International Environmental Policy. In this position he represented the United States Environmental Protection Agency on United States delegations to the United Nations negotiating climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable development issues. Mr. Brown has written about and lectured extensively on climate change issues over the last 20 years.  He has lectured on climate change issues at 30 universities in eight countries and lectured on sustainability issues in 23 countries. His interest has been the need to integrate environmental science, economic, and law in environmental policy making. His latest book is American Heat: Ethical Problems with the U.S. Response to Global Warming.

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Floyd desChamps , Senior Professional Staff member (minority), Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Mr. DesChamps began his professional career as a design engineer with the Westinghouse Electric Corporation at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory.  He performed research and development activities for the reactor design of the Seawolf class of nuclear-powered submarines.  After several years at the laboratory, he started his public service career at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewing the utilization of radioactive materials in medical and industrial devices. 

Accepting the opportunity to join the engineering team for the design of a nuclear reactor for tritium production, Mr. DesChamps joined the US Department of Energy in 1990.  After the reactor project was canceled by Congress in 1992, he transferred into the Environmental Management program at the Department.  There he worked on the development of environmental technologies to support the clean-up of the nuclear weapons complex. 
After serving as a fellow in Senator John McCain’s office in 1995, Mr. DesChamps, in March 1997, came to work for the US Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.  As Senior Professional Staff, he focuses on science, technology, and space policy.  Included are such issues as federal research and development, the International Space Station, commercial space development, climate change, and technology transfer.

Mr. Des Champs holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of South Carolina and a master of science degree in engineering management from the University of Maryland University College.  He is also licensed as a professional engineer.  

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Franco Einaudi , Past President, AMS

Dr. Franco Einaudi is the Director of the Earth Sciences Division of the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

In this position, Dr. Einaudi is responsible for planning, organizing, and evaluating a broad program of scientific research, both theoretical and experimental, in the study of the Earth. The program ranges from basic research to flight experiment development, to mission operations and data analysis.

Prior to becoming Division Director, Einaudi was the Director of Earth Sciences (2001-2005), Chief of the Laboratory for Atmospheres (1990-2000), and Head of the Severe Storms Branch, now called the Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Branch (1988-1990).

Einaudi's career has included two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Physics Department of the University of Toronto, ten years with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, and seven and a half years at the Georgia Institute of Technology as Professor of Geophysical Sciences.

A native of Turin, Italy, Einaudi received his bachelor's degree from the Politecnico of Turin, and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering with specialization in plasma physics and atmospheric sciences from Cornell University.

An atmospheric dynamicist, Einaudi is recognized nationally and internationally by his peers for his work on gravity waves, gravity waves/turbulence interaction, propagation of gravity waves in a moist atmosphere, and the role of gravity waves in initiating and interacting with storms.

Dr. Einaudi is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society, a fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the American Geophysical Union. Einaudi has served on numerous committees and panels for the National Science Foundation, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the National Research Council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), various universities and other national and international organizations. He served as President of the American Meteorological Society (2006).

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Nina Fedoroff , Science Advisor to the Secretary of State

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has named Dr. Nina V. Fedoroff to be her new Science and Technology Adviser. Dr. Fedoroff is the Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and Evan Pugh Professor in the Biology Department and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Fedoroff is a leading geneticist and molecular biologist who has contributed to the development of modern techniques used to study and modify plants. She received her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the Rockefeller University in 1972. In 1978, she became a staff member at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and a faculty member in the Biology Department at Johns Hopkins University. In 1995, Dr. Fedoroff joined the faculty of the Pennsylvania State University, where she served as the founding director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

Dr. Fedoroff has done fundamental research in the molecular biology of plant genes and transposons, as well on the mechanisms plants use to adapt to stressful environments. Her book, Mendel in the Kitchen: A Scientist’s View of Genetically Modified Foods, published in 2004 by the Joseph Henry Press of the National Academy of Science, examines the scientific and societal issues surrounding the introduction of genetically modified crops.

Dr. Fedoroff is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the European Academy of Sciences. She has served on the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation. Dr. Fedoroff is a 2006 National Medal of Science laureate.

Nina V. Fedoroff did her undergraduate work at Syracuse University, graduating summa cum laude with a dual major in biology and chemistry. She attended the Rockefeller University, where she earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology in 1972. Both her undergraduate research at Syracuse University and her graduate research on RNA bacteriophage at The Rockefeller University were supported by grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation. Following graduation from The Rockefeller University, she joined the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and carried out research on nuclear RNA.

In 1974 Fedoroff received fellowships from the Damon Runyan-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for postdoctoral work, first at UCLA and then in the Department of Embryology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Baltimore. Working in the laboratory of Donald Brown, Fedoroff pioneered in DNA sequencing, determining the nucleotide sequence of the first complete gene. In 1978, Fedoroff became a staff member at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and a faculty member in the Biology Department at Johns Hopkins University. Her research focus changed to the isolation and molecular characterization of maize transposable elements. The isolation of the maize transposons, discovered genetically by Barbara McClintock in the 1940s, was achieved in the early 1980s. In subsequent years, Fedoroff’s lab showed that the maize transposons were active in a variety of other plants, developed transposon tagging systems, and studied the eipgenetic regulation of transposon activity.

In 1995 Fedoroff joined the faculty of the Pennsylvania State University as Willaman Professor of Life Sciences. From 1995 to 2002, she served as the Director of the Biotechnology Institute and she organized and served as the first Director of the Life Sciences Consortium (now the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences), a seven-college organization devoted to the promotion of multidisciplinary research and teaching in the life sciences. In 2002, Fedoroff was named an Evan Pugh Professor of the Pennsylvania State University and in 2003, she became a member of the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute. Fedoroff’s current work is directed at understanding the genetic organization and molecular dynamics of plant stress and hormone responses and makes use of DNA microarray expression profiling, reverse genetics, and theoretical approaches to the analysis of large data sets. Fedoroff has published two books and numerous papers in scientific journals.

Fedoroff has served on the editorial boards of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science, Gene, Plant Journal and Perspectives in Biology and Medicine and currently chairs the NAS Council’s Publications Committee. She served on the board of the International Science Foundation and the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Englehardt Institute of Molecular Biology in Moscow. She has been a member of the Council of the National Academy of Sciences, the Board of Directors of the Genetics Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Board of Trustees of BIOSIS and the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation. She is currently a member of the Science Steering Committee of the Santa Fe Institute and the Board of Directors of the Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company.

Fedoroff has received several awards and honors, including an NIH Merit Award, a 10-year research grant that supported her work from 1989 to 1999. She also received the University of Chicago’s Howard Taylor Ricketts Award in 1990, the New York Academy of Sciences’ Outstanding Contemporary Woman Scientist award in 1992, and the Sigma Xi’s McGovern Science and Society Medal in 1997, and Syracuse University’s Arents Pioneer Medal in 2003. She is a member the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the European Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Microbiology and the National Academy of Sciences.

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Peter Folger , Energy and Natural Resources Policy, Congressional Research Service

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George M. Gray , EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development

On November 1, 2005, Dr. Gray was sworn in to serve as the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development, which is the 1,900-person, $600 million science and technology arm of the Environmental Protection Agency. Dr. Gray was appointed to this position by President George W. Bush and confirmed—by unanimous consent—by the U.S. Senate. Prior to joining EPA, George was Executive Director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and a Lecturer in Risk Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). In 16 years at HSPH, his researched focused on scientific bases of human health risk assessment and its application to risk policy with a focus on risk/risk tradeoffs in risk management. George taught toxicology and risk assessment to both graduate students and participants in the School’s Continuing Professional Education program. George holds a B.S. degree in biology from the University of Michigan, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in toxicology from the University of Rochester. He and his wife, Ann, and their two children make their home in McLean, Virginia.

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John F. Heimmer, PARTECH, LLC (Phased Array Radar Technology)

Mr. Heimmer did his graduate and undergraduate work in Physics at Adelphi University, Long Island NY.  His early career included Electronic Warfare System Engineer at Grumman Aerospace LI, NY and Spacecraft System Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA.

Later he joined Lockheed Martin’s Moorestown NJ facility and was responsible for concept development of the Multi-mission Phased Array Radar (MPAR) for NOAA and the FAA. Working with the NSSL he helped adapt the Navy’s SPY-1 MPAR as a research tool for weather and aircraft surveillance in Norman OK. Prior work included battlefield mobile air defense systems and concepts and simulation models for the DoD. Earlier experience included naval combat system engineering and intelligence analyst. 

After early retirement from Lockheed, Mr. Heimmer established PARTECH consultants to continue his involvement in the important MPAR R&D for civilian applications.

Mr. Heimmer also participated in local government while in New Jersey. He was Chairman, Burlington County College Board of Trustees, Vice-Chairman, Burlington County Bridge Commission and Mayor of Mount Laurel NJ. Recently, Mr. Heimmer relocated with his wife Rosalie, to Long Island, NY. They have two girls and 4 grandchildren.

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Stephanie Herring, Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming for Chairman Edward Markey of the 7th District of Massachusetts, Congressional Science Fellow

Stephanie Herring is an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)/ American Chemical Society (ACS) Congressional Fellow working on the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming for Chairman Edward Markey of the 7th District of Massachusetts. 

Prior to the Congressional Fellowship, Stephanie held a post-doctoral position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), studying a novel large non-coding RNA with implications for malaria life cycle regulation. She completed her doctoral studies at Yale University in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry in the laboratory of Dr. Dieter Söll.  Her work examined protein translation involving the novel 22nd amino acid, pyrrolysine, and specifically the operation of the tRNA and synthetase in this process. She graduated with a BA in Biochemistry from Swarthmore College, where she studied the kinetics of supramolecular aggregation of pseudoisocyanine dye.

Her most recent volunteer efforts have been with the Connecticut chapter of the Global Campaign for Microbicides and the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG). For the Global Campaign I was involved in lobbying the Connecticut legislative delegation for support of the Microbicide Development Act and increased microbicide funding at the NIH.  Additionally, I engaged in community outreach including panel discussions and presentations at conferences and Yale University. At AIDG, I engaged in fundraising, strategic planning, and media development.

Her hobbies include rock climbing, motorcycle riding, mountain biking, backpacking, classical piano and reading.

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Paul Higgins , Senior Policy Fellow, AMS

Paul Higgins is a Senior Policy Fellow with the American Meteorological Society. He develops solutions to climate change and works to inform policy makers, members of the media, and the general public about climate science and policy options. His efforts include analyzing existing legislative approaches, creating new policy options, and developing risk management strategies that can overcome contentious political obstacles to climate policy. He also oversees the AMS-UCAR Congressional Science Fellowship Program and helps train Earth scientists to engage the federal policy process. From 2005-2006 Paul was a Congressional Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). During his fellowship year, he analyzed climate policy in the office of Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH). While there he developed provisions to encourage international cooperation and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in ways that broadly benefit a wide range of stakeholders. Paul’s scientific research examines the causes and consequences of global climate change. He received Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from Stanford University and was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of California. He is a former fellow of the Department of Energy’s Global Change Education Program.

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Michael Holland , Program Examiner, Office of Management and Budget

Mike Holland is the program examiner at the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) with responsibility for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.  In the 110th Congress, he was Chairman Judy Biggert's designee on the Energy Subcommittee of the House Science Committee.  Prior to that, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst at Office of Science & Technology Policy working on a variety of physical sciences and engineering issues including: fusion science, the intersection of particle physics and cosmology, scientific user facilities for basic research, and R&D Investment Criteria.  He earned his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina and his undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and chemistry from N.C. State University.

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Heather Holsinger, Senior Fellow, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Heather Holsinger is a Senior Fellow for Domestic Policy at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Her work at the Pew Center involves researching, analyzing and tracking information on domestic activities and policies related to climate change, with an emphasis on emissions trading, clean energy, and adaptation.

Ms. Holsinger has significant policy analysis experience, including five years’ service at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), an arm of the Congress, evaluating federal voluntary climate programs and the implementation of a variety of natural resource regulations.  In addition, she served as a Fellow with the National Academy of Sciences' Global Change Research Committee and evaluated electronics recycling efforts while at Resources for the Future.  Ms. Holsinger has also advised a variety of Fortune 500 companies and public sector organizations on environmental management issues while at the consulting firm of Putnam, Hayes, & Bartlett, Inc.  She holds two Masters Degrees from Duke University with a focus on resource economics and policy and a BA from the University of Virginia with majors in Economics and Environmental Science.

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Maria G. Honeycutt, Geological Society of America – U.S. Geological Survey Congressional Science Fellow

Maria Honeycutt is the 2007-2008 Geological Society of America – U.S. Geological Survey Congressional Science Fellow. She works for Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) on issues ranging from natural hazards, insurance, and emergency management, to climate change, fisheries, and ocean and coastal resource management. Prior to the fellowship, Maria spent three years as a principal geologist with URS Corporation in Maryland. Through URS’ post-disaster hazard mitigation contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), she led the development of coastal flood recovery maps for the Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, and Rita. She spent the preceding four years with another engineering firm, PBS&J, involved in coastal erosion and flood modeling for the National Flood Insurance Program. Since 2001, Maria has been an active member (and more recently, co-chair) of the Coastal Issues Policy Committee for the Association of State Floodplain Managers, and became professionally registered as a Certified Floodplain Manager in 2006. Maria initially got into the “disaster business” after spending 1998 as a Knauss National Sea Grant Marine Policy Fellow embedded in the Mitigation Directorate at FEMA Headquarters. Maria earned a B.A. in geology from Smith College, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Delaware’s College of Marine and Earth Studies. Her dissertation research focused on quantifying the impacts of the geologic framework and storms on long-term spatial and temporal patterns of shoreline change along the Atlantic coast of Delaware.

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William Hooke , Senior Fellow, and Director, AMS Policy Program

William H. Hooke has been a senior policy fellow at the American Meteorological Society since June, 2000, and director of the Policy Program since July, 2001. His current policy research interests include: natural disaster reduction; historical precedents as they illuminate present-day policy; and the nature and implications of changing national requirements for weather and climate science and services. He also directs AMS policy education programs, including the AMS Summer Policy Colloquium, and the AMS-UCAR Congressional Science Fellowship Program.

From 1967 to 2000, Dr. Hooke worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and antecedent agencies. After six years of research in fundamental geophysical fluid dynamics and its application to the ionosphere, the boundary layer, air quality, aviation, and wind engineering, he moved into a series of management positions of increasing scope and responsibility. From 1973 to 1980, he was Chief of the Wave Propagation Laboratory Atmospheric Studies Branch. From 1980 to 1983 he rotated through a series of management development assignments. From 1984 to 1987 he directed NOAA's Environmental Sciences Group (now the Forecast Systems Lab), responsible for much of the systems R&D for the NWS Modernization, as well as a range of other weather and climate research activities.

From 1987 to 1993 he served as the Deputy Chief Scientist and Acting Chief Scientist of NOAA, setting policy and direction for $300M/year of NOAA R&D in oceanography, atmospheric science, hydrology, climate, marine biology, and associated technologies.Between 1993 and 2000, he held two national responsibilities: Director of the U.S. Weather Research Program Office, and Chair of the interagency Subcommittee for Natural Disaster Reduction of the National Science and Technology Council Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

Dr. Hooke was an ad joint faculty member at the University of Colorado from 1969 to 1987, and served as a fellow of two NOAA Joint Institutes (CIRES, 1971-1977; CIRA 1987-2000). The author of over fifty refereed publications, and co-author of one book, Dr. Hooke holds a B.S. (Physics Honors) from Swarthmore College (1964), and S.M. (1966) and Ph.D. (1967) degrees from the University of Chicago. He is a Fellow of the AMS and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Currently, he chairs the NAS/NRC Disasters Roundtable, and serves on the ICSU Planning Group on Natural and Human-Induced Environmental Hazards and Disasters.

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Holmes Hummel is a Congressional Science Fellow focused on climate policy development for the office of Congressman Jay Inslee, co-author of Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy. Over the last ten years, Holmes has tackled energy sufficiency, security, and sustainability problems from the vantage point of Silicon Valley companies, development banks, and international energy analysts. While based primarily in the Bay Area, Holmes has accumulated work and research experience in China, Ecuador, South Africa, and Austria. In addition to two degrees in energy engineering, Holmes holds one of the first PhD’s awarded by Stanford University’s Interdisciplinary Program on Environment and Resources, defending research on the energy technology and policy implications of climate stabilization scenarios. The Environmental Leadership Program has recognized Holmes as a “visionary, action-oriented emerging leader.”

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Jay Inslee, Congressman (D-WA)

Raised on the shores of Puget Sound, Jay Inslee comes from a long line of Washingtonians and wants to protect the state’s natural beauty for his three sons and generations to come.

He’s worked at the federal level – as representative for the 4th Congressional District from 1992-1994 and the 1st Congressional District since 1999 – to protect the environment of Washington state and address the problem of global warming.

He fought to restore protections for roadless areas in national forests and led a successful campaign in the House to keep limits on oil-tanker traffic in Puget Sound. Since 2005, Jay has used his seat on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee to promote his vision for a clean energy future, the New Apollo Energy Act, and to advance other legislation that would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. In March 2007, he was appointed to the 15-member Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Beyond advocating sound environmental policies, Jay has used a common-sense approach in Congress to help expand the region’s high-tech economy, promote privacy protections for American consumers and strengthen programs for seniors like Social Security and Medicare.

Jay also has supported increased spending for port security and veterans’ services. He backed the war in Afghanistan to root out terrorists; but he voted against the war in Iraq and has been an outspoken critic of administration policies there.

Even before his election to the U.S. Congress, Jay was a public servant. He was a state legislator and prosecutor in Selah, Wash.

Jay holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Washington and earned his law degree from Willamette University. He’s been married to his high-school sweetheart, Trudi, since 1972. The couple has three grown children – Jack, Connor and Joe – who all live in Washington state.

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Timothy Killeen, Director, NCAR, incoming NSF Assistant Director for Geosciences

Timothy Killeen will become NSF Assistant Director for the Geosciences on July 1, 2008. Killeen is currently director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and president of the American Geophysical Union.

In his new role, Killeen will oversee the Geosciences directorate (GEO), which has a fiscal year 2008 budget of $752 million and supports research in the atmospheric, earth and ocean sciences, including climate processes and changes, the water cycle, and natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and severe storms.

Killeen has served as director of the NCAR since 2000. Prior to that, he was professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, associate vice president for research, and director of the Space Physics Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan. He holds a doctorate in atomic and molecular physics and a Bachelor of Science with first-class honors from University College London. He has held leadership roles in the geosciences for many years, including chairing numerous national committees and advisory panels. He has been president of the American Geophysical Union since 2006, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. His research is in satellite measurements and modeling of the upper atmosphere.

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James Kimpel, Director, National Severe Storms Laboratory, NOAA

Dr. James (Jeff) Kimpel has broad experience in leading organizations in the atmospheric and related sciences.  He is interested in putting together alliances of institutions and people to tackle complex, multidisciplinary problems. Past efforts include contributions to the creation of the Oklahoma Weather Center, the OU / Fort Valley / Industry Consortium, and most recently, the Phased Array Radar Project. He designed an alternative graduate degree, the Master of Science in Professional Meteorology, to develop student expertise in the transfer of technology and high-quality service to clients. He has taught a graduate level course in private sector meteorology employing the case-study method. 

Dr. Kimpel is the Past President of the American Meteorological Society and served on the National Academy of Sciences Board on Natural Disasters. Previously, he chaired the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee for the Atmospheric Sciences, and the National Weather Service / National Centers for Environmental Prediction Advisory Panel.

Dr. Kimpel is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in Vietnam in 1967 – 1968.  He was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society in 1989.  He is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist (#567).

Dr. Kimpel earned a B.S. degree in Psychology from Denison University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Meteorology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  He joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma in 1973 and has served as the Associate Dean of the College of Engineering, the Director of the School of Meteorology, the Dean of the College of Geosciences, and the Senior Vice-President and Provost of the Norman Campus.  He is presently the Director of NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory.

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Kei Koizumi, Director, R&D Budget and Policy Program, AAAS

Kei Koizumi is known as a leading authority on the federal budget, federal support for research and development, science policy issues, and R&D funding data. He is the principal budget analyst, editor, and writer for the annual AAAS reports on federal R&D and for the continually updated analyses of federal R&D on the AAAS R&D web site. He is widely quoted in the general and trade press on federal science funding issues and speaks on R&D funding trends and federal budget policy toward R&D to numerous public groups and seminars. Kei Koizumi received his M.A. from the Center for International Science, Technology, and Public Policy program at the George Washington University and received his B.A. from Boston University in Political Science and Economics.

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Dr. Neal Lane, former Science Adviser to President William J. Clinton, and Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Neal F. Lane is Senior Fellow in Science and Technology Policy at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. He is also the Malcolm Gillis University Professor at Rice University and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Prior to returning to Rice University, Lane served in the federal government as assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), from August 1998 to January 2001, and as director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and member (ex officio) of the National Science Board, from October 1993 to August 1998. Before his post with NSF, Lane was provost and professor of physics at Rice University in Houston, a position he had held since 1986. He first came to Rice in 1966, when he joined the department of physics as an assistant professor. In 1972, he became professor of physics and space physics and astronomy. He left Rice from mid-1984 to 1986 to serve as chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. In addition, from 1979 to 1980, while on leave from Rice, he worked at the NSF as director of the Division of Physics. Lane received his PhD, MS, and BS in physics from the University of Oklahoma.

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Michael MacCracken, Climate Scientist, The Climate Institute

Michael MacCracken has been Chief Scientist for Climate Change Programs with the Climate Institute in Washington DC since 2002; he was also elected to its Board of Directors in 2006. Both of these positions are held on a volunteer basis.

Dr. MacCracken received his B.S. in Engineering degree from Princeton University in 1964 and his Ph.D. degree in Applied Science from the University of California Davis/Livermore in 1968. His dissertation used a 2-D climate model to evaluate the plausibility of several hypotheses of the causes of ice ages. Following his graduate work, he joined the Physics Department of the University of California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as an atmospheric physicist. His research in the ensuing 25 years included numerical modeling of various causes of climate change (including study of the potential climatic effects of greenhouse gases, volcanic aerosols, land-cover change, and nuclear war) and of factors affecting air quality (including photochemical pollution in the San Francisco Bay Area and sulfate air pollution in the northeastern United States). At LLNL, he also served as division leader for atmospheric and geophysical sciences from 1987-1993 and as deputy division leader from 1974-1987.

From 1993-2002, Dr. MacCracken was on assignment as senior global change scientist to the interagency Office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) in Washington D.C., also serving as its first executive director from 1993-1997. From 1997-2001, he served as executive director of the USGCRP's National Assessment Coordination Office, which coordinated the efforts of 20 regional assessment teams, 5 sectoral teams, and the National Assessment Synthesis Team (which was constituted as a federal advisory committee) that prepared the national climate impacts assessment report that was forwarded to the President and on to the Congress in late 2000. During this period with the Office of the USGCRP, Dr. MacCracken also coordinated the official U.S. Government reviews of several of the assessment reports prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and he was a co-author/contributing author for various chapters in the IPCC assessment reports.

When Dr. MacCracken's assignment with the Office of the USGCRP concluded on September 30, 2002, he simultaneously retired from LLNL. In addition to his activities with the Climate Institute, he served on the integration team for the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment from 2002-2004. Dr. MacCracken is also near completing a 4-year term (2003-2007) as president of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS), members of which are the national academies of science or their equivalent in about 50 nations. As president of IAMAS, Dr. MacCracken also serves on the executive committees of International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and the Scientific Committee for Oceanic Research (SCOR). From 2004 to 2005, he served on a panel of the Scientific Committee on Problems in the Environment that prepared a report on what is known about the likelihood and consequences of an asteroid or comet impact, and from 2004-2007 on a scientific expert group convened by Sigma Xi and the UN Foundation at the request of the UN's Commission on Sustainable Development to suggest the best measures for mitigating and adapting to global climate change.

Dr. MacCracken is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the Oceanography Society, and the American Geophysical Union (AGU), among other organizations. His affidavit relating global climate change and impacts on particular regions was recently cited favorably by Justice Stevens in his opinion in the recent decision in Massachusetts et al. versus EPA.

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Edward Maibach, Director of the Center of Excellence in Climate Change Communication Research, George Mason University

An epiphany that stuck on a walk in the mountains in 2006 with Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber – Director of the Postsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research -- forever changed Ed’s life. The epiphany: the realization that climate change is the ultimate threat to the public’s health & wellbeing, worldwide. Ed is a highly experienced public health advocate and social change professional and a leading academic in the field of communication. His work over the past 25 years has helped define the fields of public health communication and social marketing and his book Designing Health Messages: Approaches from Communication Theory and Public Health Practice is widely used by academics and practitioners alike. Having earned a PhD in communication research (Stanford) and a Masters in Public Health, he has had the pleasure of serving as an Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute, as Worldwide Director of Social Marketing for Porter Novelli, as Chairman of the Board for Kidsave International, and as a member of the faculty at several leading universities (Emory, George Washington, and currently George Mason). Ed responded to his epiphany by refocusing his work entirely around climate change prevention and adaptation, and by moving to Mason in 2007 to create the Center.

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Elizabeth Malone , Joint Global Change Research Institute

Dr. Elizabeth Malone is a senior research scientist at the Joint Global Change Research Institute. Her interests focus on policy-relevant sociological research in global change issues, developing studies that integrate disparate worldviews, data sources, and scientific approaches. Malone was an author and review editor for the most recent assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, both in impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and mitigation. In recent years she has been working on developing structured methods for analyzing country, sector, and local vulnerabilities to climate change. Associated with that work she has been exploring approaches to scenarios of the future that integrate socioeconomic and environmental information. She edited, with Steve Rayner, Human Choice and Climate Change, a four-volume assessment of social science research relevant to global climate change; they jointly authored the summary volume and an invited paper for Nature on the conclusions.

Malone holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Maryland-College Park. Her dissertation used both discourse analysis and social network analysis to explore bases for agreement in the arguments used in the global climate change debate.

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Berrien Moore , Executive Director, Climate Central, Inc.

He has been a visiting scientist at the International Institute of Meteorology at the University of Stockholm, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the East-West Center in Hawaii, and, a visiting senior scientist at the Laboratorie de Physique et Chemie Marines at the Universite de Paris.

To date Professor Moore has authored over 150 papers on the carbon cycle, global biogeochemical cycles, Global Change as well as numerous policy documents in the area of the global environment.

Professor Moore served as a committee member of the NASA Space and Earth Science Advisory Committee, which published its report in 1986: "The Crisis in Space and Earth Science: A Time for a New Commitment." In 1987, he was appointed chairman of NASA's senior science advisory panel and was a member of the NASA Advisory Council. In May 1992, upon completion of his Chairmanship, Professor Moore was presented with NASA's highest civilian award, the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal for outstanding service to the agency. He has contributed actively to committees at the National Academy of Science; most recently, he served as Chairman of the Academy's Committee on International Space Programs of the Space Studies Board. This committee, in collaboration with the European Space Sciences Committee, jointly published "US - European Collaboration in Space Science." In 1999, he completed his Chairmanship of the National Academy's Committee on Global Change Research with the publication of "Global Environmental Change: Research Pathways for the Next Decade." Currently, he is a member of the Space Studies Board and is co-chairing (with Rick Anthes, President of UCAR) a National Research Council decadal survey, "Earth Observations from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future."

Professor Moore led the IGBP Task Force on Global Analysis, Interpretation, and Modelling (GAIM), prior to serving as Chair of the overarching Scientific Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). As Chair of the SC-IGBP (1998 - 2002) Professor Moore served as a lead author within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report (TAR), which was released in Spring 2001. He chaired the July 2001 Open Science Conference on Global Change in Amsterdam and is one of the four architects of the Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change.

He served on NASA?s Earth System Science and Applications Advisory Committee from 1998 to 2002; he chaired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Research Review Team from 2003 to 2005, and he served on the Advisory Board, School of Engineering and Science, International University of Bremen from 2002 to 2006.

At present Professor Moore's professional affiliations include the following:

• Member, Board of Trustees, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
• Member, Advisory Council, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Max Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Munich, Germany
• Chair, Steering Committee, Global Terrestrial Observing System (United Nations Affiliate)
• Member, Board of Directors, University of New Hampshire Foundation
• Member, Science Advisory Team - The National Polar- Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS/NOAA)

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Michael Morgan , Congressional Science Fellow Office of Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD)

Michael C. Morgan is the current 2007-2008 AMS/UCAR Congressional Science Fellow. During his fellowship year, he is working in the office of U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin (MD) as a senior legislative fellow.  His work in Senator Cardin’s office focuses on energy and environment issues. He is on sabbatical leave from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Michael’s research focuses on the analysis, diagnosis, and predictability of mid-latitude and tropical weather systems.  He is chair of the department’s Undergraduate program. Michael has served as a member of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) University Relations Committee and UCAR’s Unidata Users Committee. Michael currently serves on the advisory panels for NCAR’s Mesoscale Microscale Meteorology division and UCAR’s high performance computing lab. Michael received his Ph.D. and S.B. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He enjoys competitive weather forecasting, racquetball, and bowling.

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Mark Myers, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey

Responsibilities: Dr. Myers is responsible for leading the Nation's largest water, earth, biological science, and civilian mapping agency in its mission to provide the scientific data that enable decisionmakers to create sound policies for a changing world.

Career History and Highlights: Mark Myers is an internationally recognized geologist and former State Geologist and head of Alaska's Geological Survey.

Dr. Myers, an expert on North Slope sedimentary and petroleum geology, served as survey chief for field programs in the MacKenzie Delta (for the ARCO corporation, 1985), Cook Inlet (for the State of Alaska/USGS, 1997), and North Slope (ARCO, 1999). He also served as sedimentologist for 13 other North Slope field programs.

Dr. Myers is a past president and board member of the Alaska Geological Society; a certified professional geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists; a certified petroleum geologist with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists; and a licensed geologist with the State of Alaska.

Dr. Myers served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve from 1977 to 2003, retiring as a Lt. Colonel.

Education: Dr. Myers has a doctorate in geology from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and bachelor's and master's degrees in geology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Wendy Parker, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Ohio University

Wendy Parker is assistant professor of philosophy at Ohio University. Her research focuses primarily on questions in the philosophy of science, particularly questions about the nature and use of computer simulation models. She is also very interested in how science can contribute to, and sometimes obstruct, the development of public policy. During the 2003-04 academic year, she was the AMS/UCAR Congressional Science Fellow. http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~parkerw/

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Janet Poppleton, Chief of Staff (minority), House Committee on Science and Technology

Chief of Staff, Congressman Ralph M. Hall, 1996– Present;
Minority Chief of Staff, Committee on Science and Technology, 110th Congress, 2007-2008
Previously, Press Secretary, Congressman Ralph M. Hall, 1993-1996

As Minority Chief of Staff for the Committee on Science and Technology, help advance policy initiatives for Ranking Member Hall and Republican Members of the Committee; work with the Administration, industry and associations to advance effective science policy; provide direction for Minority staff; work with Majority staff as needed; oversee communications and policy strategy.  As Chief of Staff for Congressman Hall’s personal office, responsible for directing legislative policy, communications, constituent outreach; oversee DC and District staff; manage Member’s official budget. 

Ms. Poppleton received a Master of Arts in English, from Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, 1976, and Bachelor of Arts in English with highest honors from Southern State College (now Southern Arkansas University), Magnolia, AR, 1972.

Community Advocate/Liaison, Longview, TX and Henderson, TX
1977 -1993

Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX
Teaching Assistant and Undergraduate Instructor, 1975–1977

Professional Awards/Affiliations:
John C. Stennis Congressional Staff Fellow, 108th Congress
U.S. House of Representatives Chief of Staff Association
Women in Government Relations

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Tom Rosenstiel, Director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism

Tom Rosenstiel directs the Project for Excellence in Journalism, part of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He also serves as vice chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, a sister initiative of the project engaged in conducting a national conversation among journalists about standards and values. A journalist for more than 20 years, he is a former media critic for the Los Angeles Timesand chief congressional correspondent for Newsweekmagazine. He is the editor and principal author of the Project’s Annual Report on the State of the News Media, a comprehensive report on the health of American journalism. Rosenstiel is also co-author of the Committee’s “Traveling Curriculum,” an ongoing education program that since 2001 has trained more than 5,600 journalists in print, TV and online newsrooms nationwide. He is the author with Bill Kovach of The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect. Elementsis a required text in virtually every journalism school in the country and has been translated into more than 10 languages. He is a frequent commentator on radio and television and in print.

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Judy Schneider, Governemnt Divsion, Congressional Research Service

Judy Schneider is a specialist on the Congress in the Government Division of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress. She is also an adjunct scholar at the Center for Public Policy Education at the Brookings Institution. Ms. Schneider is the former head of the Congressional Organization Section of CRS. Prior to coming to CRS in 1979, she served as research coordinator of the Senate Ethics Committee's Korean investigation, and as a professional staff member on the Senate Select Committee to Study the Senate Committee System and the House Commission on Administrative Review.

Ms. Schneider is the author of over 100 papers on congressional organization and operations, and the co-author of the Congressional Deskbook published by TheCapitol.Net.  She has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences and professional society annual meetings, and frequently meets and lectures students, foreign visitors, executive branch personnel and congressional staff. She serves as a faculty member at the conference for new members of Congress.

Ms. Schneider has a BA and MA from American University and has done additional graduate work at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.

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Keith Seitter, Executive Director, AMS

Dr. Keith L. Seitter was named Executive Director of the American Meteorological Society in September 2004. He has served as Deputy Executive Director of the Society since 1999.

Seitter joined the AMS in the early 1990s as Assistant to the Executive Director in the role of leading the Society’s publications department. His primary job was to improve the efficiency of the Society’s journal production process and prepare for the eventual transition of the journals to electronic delivery, at a time when the Internet was just beginning to flourish. Today all nine prestigious AMS journals are available online.

As Deputy Director, Seitter was involved in all aspects of the Society’s programs including moving the many AMS Specialty and Annual Meeting toward electronic submission and dissemination of author’s materials, implementing the recommendations from the 10-Year Vision Study, and continuing working with the publications department.

Before joining the AMS, Seitter was on the faculty at the University of Lowell, now University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He earned his undergraduate degree in meteorology at the Pennsylvania State University and a doctorate in geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago. A native of Marion, Ohio, Seitter had a postdoctoral appointment at the Air Force Geophysical Laboratory at Hanscom Air Force Base before moving to the University of Lowell.

Seitter is a Fellow of the AMS and Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society. He is also a member of many other societies and organizations in the sciences and scholarly publishing and serves on a number of advisory boards. He has given numerous invited lectures and published a number of papers in AMS and other scientific and publishing journals.

The AMS, founded in 1919, is the nation's leading professional society for those involved in the atmospheric and related sciences. With more than 11,000 members, the Society promotes the development and dissemination of information on atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences through scientific journals, conferences, and public education programs across the country.

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Tobin L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Federal Relations, Association of American Universities

Tobin (Toby) Smith is the Associate Vice President for Federal Relations at the Association of American Universities (AAU).  In this position, he is responsible for overseeing physical sciences and engineering research and has closely monitored budgets and programs at the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.  Toby is currently responsible for issues relating to innovation and national competitiveness. He shares responsibility for monitoring several key science policy issues for AAU including export controls, technology transfer, and costs of research among other things.

Prior to joining the AAU in January 2003, Toby was the Director of Federal Relations for Research for the University of Michigan.  From 1992-1999 he served as Federal Relations Representative and Assistant Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Washington D.C. Office.  From 1988 to 1992, Tobin served as a legislative assistant to Congressman Bob Traxler (D-Michigan).

Toby has written and spoken widely on science policy and funding issues. He is the co-author of a soon to be published book, Beyond Sputnik – U.S. Science Policy in the 21st Century, expected to be released by the University of Michigan Press in July 2008. He especially enjoys speaking to scientists and engineers about how they can more effectively work with members of Congress.  

He holds a Masters Degree in Arts of Legislative Affairs from George Washington University, and a Bachelor Degree in General Studies from the University of Michigan.

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Anthony Socci, Ph.D., is a Senior Science and Communications Fellow with the American Meteorological Society s executive office, in Washington, D.C. He is involved in improving the communication of science and in elevating the importance of communication in the sciences. He hosts a monthly series of environmental sciences briefings on Capitol Hill, all of them open to the public. He also co-hosts a series of workshops on 'the communication of science via the mass media', as a means of improving the communication, reporting and coverage of science in general.

From 2000-2005, Socci was Senior Climate Science Advisor with EPA's Office of Atmospheric Programs, with responsibility for strategic planning, advising, and communication of climate and climate-related science.

From 1994 to 2000, Socci had been Associate Executive Director of the multi-agency U.S. Global Change Research Program's Coordination Office, where he was active in planning, coordinating and shaping the US government's nearly $2 billion/year investment in scientific research on impacts of global- and regional-scale environmental changes, largely climate-related.

In that capacity, Socci emphasized bridge-building, outreach and communication, and he routinely interacted with many diverse interests and Executive Branch and congressional offices on climate science issues. For six years he coordinated and hosted regular Capitol Hill briefings on climate-related global and regional environmental changes.

Socci earlier had been Special Assistant to the Director of the Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation, and from1991 to 1993 he was Senior Science Advisor for the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space.

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Deb Stirling, President, Stirling Strategic Services

Deborah J. Stirling is a highly experienced Washington, D.C. and Boulder, Colorado-based attorney, legislative analyst, lobbyist, and company management advisor, specializing in science and technology.  Ms Stirling has worked extensively with the science and R&D community, and is known for building unusual coalitions that cross political, industry, and science community lines to achieve successful project development, project management, and program funding.

In 1992, she founded Stirling Strategic Services, a highly successful consulting firm specializing in leveraging U.S. government and private sector assets to bring new technologies and applications to the commercial and government markets.  In 1997 she took a hiatus from her own firm to become a successful Managing Partner of Waterstone Enterprise Strategies & Technologies, Inc. (Waterstone) for four years.  She directed legal, intellectual property, government affairs, and government marketing for the company and its clients, as well as being one of two partners responsible for developing new clients, start-up candidates, and investment acquisition.  As Managing Partner, she led strategic business planning, market evaluation and positioning, and new market identification.  In 2002, she resumed the management of Stirling Strategic Services, LLC, and remains an associate partner with Waterstone.

Before founding Stirling, she was Legal Counsel and Director of Government Affairs for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, a consortium of over 60 North American universities and the parent organization for the world-renowned National Center for Atmospheric Research.  Earlier in her career, Stirling spent 10 years as Subcommittee Counsel and Staff Director for Oceans and Atmosphere for the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and was Staff Director of the Senate-wide National Ocean Policy Study.  In addition, she functioned as Energy Counsel and Environmental Counsel to Senator Ernest F. Hollings, (D-SC), during the same period.

Ms. Stirling received her BA in International Studies and her JD from the University of South Carolina.  While in law school, she studied coastal ecology and ran field programs in marine biology, fresh water pollution in blackwater swamps and aquaculture, and specialized in environmental and science law.  Stirling is a volunteer fire fighter and a first responder in her local fire protection district in Colorado, as well as a Director of the fire protection district.  She is also a Director of the Colorado Musical Festival.

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Josh Trapani is a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow on the Policy Analysis staff of the USDA Forest Service, where his work focuses on climate change adaptation and mitigation in forest ecosystems, as well as on tracking and analysis of Congressional activity on climate change. He is also a Research Collaborator with the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Prior to coming to the Forest Service, Josh was the American Geophysical Union's Congressional Fellow, working for Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on public lands management, climate change, and space issues. Josh received bachelor's degrees in anthropology and geology from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from the University of Michigan. Trained as a paleontologist, his research centers around vertebrate morphology and evolution, and he has performed archaeological and paleontological fieldwork throughout the United States as well as in Mexico and the Omo Valley of Ethiopia. He has published nearly a dozen peer-reviewed papers in journals as diverse as Development, Palaios, Journal of Human Evolution, and Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, as well as essays on science and policy in Eos and Geotimes.

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Ana Unruh Cohen, Deputy Staff Director, House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming

Ana Unruh Cohen is the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. She joined the Select Committee staff from the Center for American Progress where she was the Director of Environmental Policy. Prior to her time at American Progress, she was an aide to Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and handled a variety of energy and environmental issues pending before the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. Dr. Unruh Cohen originally joined Congressman Markey's staff as the 2001-2002 Science and Technology Policy Fellow sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society. She has a B.S. in Chemistry from Trinity University and received her Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

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Dave Verardo, Paleoclimate Program Director, Geosciences Division, National Science Foundation

Dave is currently the Director of the Paleoclimate Program in the Division of Atmospheric Sciences at the National Science Foundation. He has held this position for the last seven years. Previously, Dave was Deputy Director for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry; AAAS Congressional Science Fellow in the Office of US Senator Ron Wyden; and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. Dave served for six years in the US Coast Guard. Dave holds a PhD in Earth & Environmental Sciences from the City University of New York, a BA in Geology from Long Island University, and a JD from Concord Law School.

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Gene Whitney, Assistant Director, Environment, Office of Science and Technology Policy

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Thomas Wilbanks , ORNL Corporate Fellow, and Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL

Dr. Wilbanks received his B.A. degree in social sciences from Trinity University in 1960 and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in geography from Syracuse University in 1967 and 1969. He served on the faculties of Syracuse University and the University of Oklahoma before joining ORNL in 1977.

Trained as a geographer, Dr. Wilbanks has focused his research on relationships between utilization of technology and social and economic development, both in the United States and in developing countries. Topics in his publications include attention to energy and environmental choices and impacts, decision-making and institution-building, and such cross-cutting issues for science as relationships between macroscale and microscale processes. He is the author or coauthor of six books and monographs, more than ninety journal articles and book chapters, and more than one hundred papers presented at universities and professional meetings in twelve countries.

In 1986, Dr. Wilbanks was awarded Honors by the Association of American Geographers (AAG), geography's highest honor, and in 1985 he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 1993 he was named Distinguished Geography Educator of the year by the National Geographic Society for his contributions to the scientific content of national education standards for geography, and in 1995 he was awarded the James R. Anderson Medal of Honor in Applied Geography by the AAG.

In January 1988 he spoke at a special symposium celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the National Geographic Society. From 1992 to 1993, he served as president of the Association of American Geographers, and during the period 1993 to 1997, he served as chair of both of geography's committees of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NAS/NRC), the U.S. National Committee for the International Geographical Union, and an NAS committee that produced Rediscovering Geography: New Relevance for Science and Society (1997), which assessed a scientific discipline from the standpoint of external needs and expectations.

At ORNL, Dr. Wilbanks is manager of Global Change and Developing Country Programs. Current activities are focused on biodiversity protection and environmental institution-building in Guatemala, industrial ecology in India, and both national and international responses to global climate-change issues, including several leadership roles in the first U.S. National Assessment of Consequences of Climate Variability and Change. He also serves as adjunct professor of geography at the University of Tennessee and on a variety of national committees and panels. In previous years, his activities included assisting in the preparation of U.S. National Energy Plan II (1978–79) and the USAID Global Climate Change Initiative (1997–98).

He was appointed a corporate fellow in 1986.

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