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Rosina Bierbaum
Dean Emerita and Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy, SEAS; Professor of Public Health and Professor of Climate, Space Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
Environmental Policy and Planning
Climate + Energy
Conservation + Restoration
Cross-cutting
Office
3528 Dana
Websites
About
Professor and Dean Emerita Bierbaum, PhD, focuses her research on the interface of science and policy--principally on issues related to climate change adaptation and mitigation at the national and international levels. She also holds an appointment in the School of Public Health at Michigan, and in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. Her experience extends from climate science into foreign relations and international development. Rosina served for two decades in both the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. Government, and ran the first Environment Division of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She chairs the Scientific and Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility, served on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, was an Adaptation Fellow at the World Bank, and a lead author of the U.S. National Climate Assessment. She has lectured on every continent, and in more than 20 countries.
Bierbaum is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences, as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Ecological Society of America, and Sigma Xi. She received the American Geophysical Union’s Waldo Smith award for ‘extraordinary service to Geoscience’ and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Protection Award. Bierbaum serves on the board of the AAAS, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Federation of American Scientists, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the Climate Reality Project, the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. She earned a BA in English, a BS in biology and a Ph.D. in ecology and evolution.
Publications
2019. Erbaugh, J., Bierbaum, R., Castilleja, G., Fonseca, G., Toward sustainable agriculture in the tropics. World Development, 121: pp 158-162. Special issue on “Commodity Agriculture” (all papers organized and commissioned by authors). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X19301160
2017. L. V.Rasmussen, Agrawal A., Bierbaum R., Oldekop J. Across the practitioner-researcher divide: Indicators used to assess the sustainability of commodity agricultural production, Global Environmental Change 42: pp. 33-46. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378016305635
2016. Report on Science and Technology to Ensure the Safety of the Nation’s Drinking Water, President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (co-chair, lead author), Washington, D.C.: Executive Office of the President. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/PCAST/pcast_drinking_water_final_report_20161221.pdf
2015. Report on Private Sector Efforts in Adaptation to Climate Change, President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (co-chair, lead author), Washington, D.C.: Executive Office of the President. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/PCAST/pcast_climate_and_private_sector_recommendations_2015.pdf
2014. Bierbaum, R., Stocking, M., Bouwman, H., Cowie, A., Diaz, S., Granit, J., Patwardhan, A., Sims, R., Duron, G., Gorsevski, V., Hammond, T., Neretin, L., Wellington-Moore, C. Delivering Global Environmental Benefits for Sustainable Development. Report of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) to the 5th GEF Assembly, México 2014. Global Environment Facility, Washington, DC. http://www.stapgef.org/sites/default/files/documents/STAP-GEF-Delivering-Global-Env_web-LoRes.pdf
2014. B Biagini, Bierbaum, R., Stults, M., Dobardzic, S. and McNeeley, S. A typology of adaptation actions: A global look at climate adaptation actions financed through the Global Environment Facility, Global Environmental Change 25 (2014), pp 97-108. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378014000065
2013. PCAST Letter Report to the President on developing a strategy for addressing climate change, President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (lead author), Washington, D.C.: Executive Office of the President. https://www.broadinstitute.org/files/sections/about/PCAST/2013%20pcast-energy-and-climate.pdf
2013. Bierbaum, R., and P. Matson, Energy in the Context of Sustainability, Dædalus 142 (1): 146–161. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/DAED_a_00191
2012. Bierbaum, R., J.Smith, A. Lee, M. Blair, L. Carter, F. Stuart Chapin III, P. Fleming, S. Ruffo, S. McNeeley, M. Stults, E. Wasley, L. Verduzco, A Comprehensive Review of Adaptation in the United States: More Than Before, But Less Than Needed”, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 44 pages (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11027-012-9423-1?LI=true#page-1) http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DAED_a_00191
2011. Report to the President on Sustaining Environmental Capital: Protecting Society and the Economy. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (co-chair and lead author), Washington, D.C.: Executive Office of the President. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast_sustaining_environmental_capital_report.pdf
2010. National Climate Adaptation Summit Report. National Climate Adaptation Summit Committee (co-chair and lead author) http://vintage.joss.ucar.edu/events/2010/ncas/ncas_report.pdf
2009. World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change. (co-chair and lead author), The World Bank, Washington, D.C. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/4387
Research
- Adaptation and mitigation policy – domestically and internationally
- Climate Change adaptation research needs
- Designing development projects to meet multiple environmental objectives
- Bridging the scientist-practitioner divide in developing metrics for sustainability
Education
PhD, State University of New York (ecology and evolution)
BS, Boston College (biology)
BA, Boston College (english)
Affiliations
- U.S. National Climate Assessment - Member, Federal Advisory Committee, and Convening Lead Author of the Adaptation Chapter (2011-2014).
- Board Member, Alliance for Climate Protection (2012-present).
- (PCAST) President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2009-present)
Nobel Summit / NAS, April 27, 2021
Featuring: Yuan Tseh Lee, NAS and Nobel Laureate in chemistry; Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK); Marcia McNutt, President NAS; Brian Schmidt, NAS and Nobel Laureate in physics; and Professor Rosina Bierbaum, University of Michigan and University of Maryland.
Nobel Summit / NAS, April 28, 2021
Featuring: Joe Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate, Columbia University; Jane Lubchenco, Advisor to the President, Oregon State University; Gretchen Daily, Stanford University; Eduardo Brondizio, Indiana University; and Professor Rosina Bierbaum, University of Michigan and University of Maryland.
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