Green Science & Sustainability Series
Changing Policy through Science: Careers in Policy and Regulatory Affairs
Monday, October 5th, 5:30-6:30 PM CST
This week’s What can I do with my PhD? career seminar will feature three professionals who will discuss the role they play in the chain of policy and regulation for government, non-profits, and private companies working in green science and environmental protection.
Jennifer McPartland
Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund
As Senior Scientist in the Health program at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Dr. Jennifer McPartland focuses on advancing policy, market, and science solutions to protect human health and the environment from harmful chemical exposures. She currently serves on the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Environmental Health Matters Initiative Committee, the U.S. EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors Chemical Safety for Sustainability Subcommittee, and the GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals Science Advisory Committee.
Before her arrival at EDF, Jennifer was an American Society of Microbiology (ASM)/American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) congressional science policy fellow for Congresswoman Diana DeGette, where her portfolio focused on health and consumer issues ranging from direct-to-consumer genetic testing and food safety to chemicals policy reform. Dr. McPartland earned her PhD, and was a postdoctoral researcher, at the University of Chicago where she pursued research in the field of microbiology in the lab of Dr. Lucia Rothman-Denes. Jennifer received a BS in chemistry with a specialization in biochemistry from the University of Virginia.
Terry Reyes
Regulatory Affairs Manager, Impossible Foods
Terry is a trained scientist with a PhD in Cancer Biology from Stanford University School of Medicine. She has extensive experience mentoring students by providing them with meaningful and practical career and academic guidance. Terry has successfully made “the switch” from an academic career to industry, having pursued a career in Regulatory Affairs. Currently, she is a Regulatory Manager at Impossible Foods in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Gavin Dillingham
Director of Clean Energy, Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC)
Dr. Gavin Dillingham is Director for Clean Energy Policy and Director of the US DOE’s Combined Heat and Power TAP. He has worked climate related matters for the last twenty years in the private and public sector. This work includes working with cities and states to identify, develop and implement appropriate policies and programs to support climate action planning and greenhouse gas mitigation. Dr. Dillingham joined HARC in 2012 where he leads efforts focusing on policy and programs to improve the climate resilience of power infrastructure and built environment. His current work includes developing climate risk mitigation strategies, climate action decision making and planning, and clean energy finance.
Dr. Dillingham received his PhD in Political Science from Rice University in 2008. He holds the Climate Change Professional certifications from the Association of Climate Change Officers and the Sustainability Associate from the Institute for Sustainable Professionals.