Research Professor and Roy F. Weston Chair in Natural Economics Rosina Bierbaum has been elected as a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Board of Directors.
Bierbaum joins the board of directors after a long history of involvement with the Association. She was an AAAS Policy Fellow and she says, “The AAAS Policy Fellowship literally changed my life. The first House Science Committee hearing I attended was an epiphany. That experience compelled me to include communicating and translating science into my career goals.”
She served on President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and worked to advance policy in areas such as STEM education, antibiotic resistance, clean energy, agriculture, natural capital, drinking water, spectrum allocation and technologies to enhance independence for the elderly. Her research focuses on the interface of science and policy--primarily on issues related to climate change adaptation and mitigation at the national and international levels.
“I believe we must all be ‘civic scientists’ and tithe some of our time to improve public understanding and use of best available science,” she says. “My life has come full circle from ‘discovery’ of knowledge, to ‘assessment’ and ‘use’ of knowledge and back to the University to mentor the next generation of all three kinds of professionals.”
“AAAS must support these activities in tandem – strong basic research, synthesis and application,” Bierbaum adds. “AAAS must be a strong ‘force for science’ in this increasingly polarized and anti-science era. I promise to work tirelessly to restore science to its rightful place as a board member.”
The AAAS mission is to “advance science, engineering and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people.” The association publishes Science magazine and is one of the largest science organizations in the world, with members in 91 countries. The board of directors is responsible for the overall governance of AAAS.
Read more about the new AAAS president-elect and board of directors on the AAAS website.