Gene
Whitney is Assistant
Director for Environment at the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
His work focuses on the science and technology policy aspects of earth sciences,
natural hazards and disasters, energy, water, land remote sensing, environment,
and natural resources. He is co-Chair of the U.S. Group on Earth Observations
and is
OSTP
liaison to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. He directs the
Future of Land Imaging Interagency Working Group, and serves as
NSTC
director for the Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction and the Subcommittee on
Water Availability and Quality.
Dr. Whitney also coordinates the Federal interagency science and technology
portfolio for the United States in
UNESCO.
He served as a member of the Joint U.S.–Canada Task Force investigating
the massive electrical blackout of August 14, 2003 in the northeastern U.S. and
southern Canada, and worked with the President's Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology on national energy efficiency policy. Previously, he was
Chief Scientist for the
USGS
Energy Resources Team, where he managed the energy research and assessment
group, conducting basic research on the eology, geochemistry, and geophysics
of fossil fuels, conducting national and global assessments of oil, natural gas,
and coal resources, and assessing availability and economics of fossil fuels.
Dr. Whitney has a
PhD
degree in geology from the University of Illinois and has authored
or co-authored numerous scientific papers and abstracts.
He received an
NRC
postdoctoral fellowship at
NASA/
JPL
and was awarded a senior postdoctoral fellowship at Ecole Normale Superieur in
Paris. His international experience includes working with the governments of
China, Russia, Pakistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, and Japan on energy and mineral
resource issues.
