Biography of Rosina Bierbaum

Dr. Rosina M. Bierbaum was confirmed as the Associate Director for Environment in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on July 30, 1998.  Dr. Bierbaum joined OSTP in November 1993 as a Senior Policy Analyst and served as Assistant Director for Environment before being promoted to her current position.  As Associate Director, she is the Administration's senior scientific advisor on environmental research and development.  She is responsible for scientific input and guidance on a wide range of issues, including global change, air and water quality, endangered species, biodiversity, ecosystem management, endocrine disruptors, environmental monitoring, natural hazards, and energy research and development.   Rosina works closely with the President's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), co-chairing its Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources, which coordinates Federal research and development efforts in this area.  She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program at the Department of Defense, and serves as the OSTP liaison to the National Ocean Research Leadership Council.  Dr. Bierbaum was the Head of the U.S. Delegation to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Plenary Meeting in 1999, after serving as the alternate Head of Delegation in 1998 and 1996.

From 1980 to 1993, Rosina worked at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) on environmental issues such as acid rain, ozone depletion, pollution of marine resources, sustainable development, energy supply and demand, and global warming.  In 1980, she was awarded a one-year Congressional Fellowship at OTA, leading to a position as Assistant Project Director for Acid Rain in 1982, then Senior Analyst in 1985, and Project Director for Climate Change in 1988.  In 1991, she was awarded OTA's highest honor -- Senior Associate.

Dr. Bierbaum has contributed to nine assessments published by OTA on environmental issues.  She is the primary author of Changing By Degrees: Steps to Reduce Greenhouse Gases, released by OTA in February 1991.  The report identified a series of technical options to reduce both U.S. and worldwide emissions.  In 1993, she completed the two volume report, Preparing for an Uncertain Climate, which outlines a sustainable development strategy for the United States.  This report was the foundation for the United States' formal submissions on Adaptation to the International Conference of Parties on Climate Change in 1995 and 1997.

Dr. Bierbaum has written many articles published in technical and popular journals, and has testified before both House and Senate Committees on environmental issues.  She has lectured widely on research needs to better manage natural resources, on the effects of multiple stresses on ecosystems, and on the science and impacts of global climate change.  She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a reviewer of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and serves on the Editorial Board of Consequences, a journal focused on the nature and implications of environmental change.
 
 On June 2, 2000, Dr. Bierbaum will receive the Waldo E. Smith Medal from the American Geophysical Union, in recognition of  her extraordinary service to geophysics.

Dr. Bierbaum received a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in English from Boston College and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from the State University of New York, Stony Brook. In 1996, she was awarded the Alumni of the Year Award from SUNY, Stony Brook.

April 2000

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