Science and Technology in Society Conference - March 28-29, 2009

Hosted by the ST Global Consortium in Washington, DC

Keynote Presenters

Kei Koizumi, Office of Science & Technology Policy, Executive Office of President Barack Obama
Kei Koizumi was director of the Research and Development Budget and Policy Program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). His expertise is in the areas of federal budget, science and technology funding in the U.S. and especially the federal government, and local impacts of federal Research and Development funding. Koizumi has been the principal budget analyst and writer for the annual AAAS reports on federal funding for research and development since 1995. He is responsible for the continually updated analyses of the federal investment in Research and Development on the AAAS website and the annual reports, the latest being AAAS Report XXIX: Research and Development FY 2005 and Congressional Action on R&D in the FY 2004 Budget. Koizumi received his M.A. from the Center for International Science, Technology, and Public Policy program at George Washington University and received his B.A. from Boston University in Political Science and Economics.

Arie Rip, Ph.D., School of Management and Governance, University of Twente
Arie Rip is Professor of Philosophy of Science and Technology in the School of Management and Governance of the University of Twente. He is a key figure in the Centre for Studies of Science, Technology and Society. The Centre comprises studies of new technology and users, long-term developments of technology and the consumer society, technology assessment, in particular constructive technology assessment of nanotechnology, foresight as a science and technology policy instrument, national systems of research and innovation and their evolution.

Arie Rip is involved in evaluation studies, as of the Norwegian Research Council, and the research management of Flemish Universities, and international comparative science policy studies. He was a member of the EU High-Level Expert Group on Foresighting the New Technology Wave, and is actively promoting international collaboration in issues of nanotechnology and society. He is also Visiting Professor at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Arie Rip studied chemistry and philosophy at the University of Leiden, did research in physical chemistry, and switched to Chemistry and Society teaching and research, and Science, Technology and Society studies more generally. He was guest professor of science dynamics at the University of Amsterdam (1984-1987), and then moved to his present position at the University of Twente. He was President of the international Society for Social Studies of Science (1988-1989). His work in science dynamics, technology dynamics, and constructive technology assessment is widely acclaimed. He has supervised 36 PhDs, and some 10 PhD students are currently under his supervision. He has (co-)authored more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and 70 chapters in scholarly books. He (co-)authored or (co-)edited 17 books, and is regularly invited to give keynote speeches to international workshops and conferences.

James H. Turner Jr., former Chief Counsel to the Committee on Science and Technology
James H. Turner Jr., chief Democratic counsel for the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives, has be- come an important figure in the community’s relations to Congress. With a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and over twenty-five years’ experience as a congressional staffer, Turner has a keen appreciation of the need for strong support of the mathematical sciences and a deep understanding of the legislative process.

The House Committee on Science is an authorization committee, which means that it drafts legislation to set spend- ing policies that guide appropriations. The Committee on Science has the responsibility of writing the authorization bills for several federal agencies that fund research, including the National Science Foundation. Turner is a member of the com- mittee staff, which develops legislation for the committee, monitors other bills that have a scientific component, and works on coordinating science funding across the government.

Career Panelists

Alicia Jackson, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Science Policy Adviser to the Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Senator Jeff Bingaman. Focus is on developing national policy to transition our nation, and the globe, to a sustainable energy infrastructure and to encourage the critical scientific developments necessary for solving the many environmental, health, and defense challenges facing us today.

Sheril Kirshenbaum, Duke University; Co-host of the Science blog, The Intersection
Sheril Kirshenbaum is an associate at Duke University and co-author of the forthcoming book, Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, with Chris Mooney. She is involved in conservation initiatives across levels of government and works to improve communication between scientists, policymakers, and the public. Sheril holds two MS degrees in Marine Biology and Marine Policy from the University of Maine. Now a science journalist, she frequently writes about topics that bridge science and society from climate change to the science behind kissing. Previously, she served as a Fellow with the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History and as a Howard Hughes Research Fellow at Tufts University. She has contributed reports to The Nature Conservancy and provided assistance on international protected area projects. She also has experience working in pop radio and her work has been published in Fisheries Bulletin, Oecologia, Issues in Science and Technology, and Science. Sheril Kirshenbaum co-hosts The Intersection on Discover blog with Chris Mooney and contributes to DeSmogBlog, Talking Science, and Wired Science's Correlations. She was born in Suffern, New York and is also a musician.

Debra Mathews, Ph.D., Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University; Student Pugwash USA
Debra JH Mathews, Ph.D., M.A., is the Assistant Director for Science Programs for the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Mathews earned her B.S. in Biology from the Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in genetics from Case Western Reserve University. Concurrent with her PhD, she earned a Masters degree in bioethics, also from Case. She completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in genetics at Johns Hopkins, where she continued her work on human genetic variation and human population history. She also completed the Greenwall Fellowship in Bioethics and Health Policy, which is jointly administered by Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities. As a Greenwall Fellow, Dr. Mathews worked at the Genetics and Public Policy Center, researching the views of geneticists on their role(s) in science policy formation and public engagement. In addition, during a three-month internship at the Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Science and Data Policy, she worked with the Privacy Advocate on issues related to large data systems. As the Assistant Director for Science Programs, Dr. Mathews is responsible for overseeing the Stem Cell, Ethics and Policy program (SCoPE) and the Program in Ethics and Brain Sciences, as well as other bench research related endeavors in the BBI. Her research interests focus on the intersection of science, public policy and society.

Moderators

Amy Crumpton, Ph.D. AAAS
Since March 1998, Amy Crumpton has been Research Archivist for the AAAS Archives. From 1999 to 2001, she was a History of Science Society-AAAS Dibner Postdoctoral Fellow. Her current research explores the Association's role in defining ideal relationships between science and society during the Cold War. Amy holds a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech. Prior to graduate school, she worked with the AAAS Science and Policy Programs from 1987 to 1992.

Mark S. Frankel, Ph.D. AAAS
Mark S. Frankel, Ph.D., directs the Scientific Freedom, Responsibility and Law Program and is responsible for developing and managing AAAS activities related to science, ethics and law. He serves as Staff Officer to two AAAS committees--the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility and the AAAS-American Bar Association National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists. He is editor of Professional Ethics Report, the Program's quarterly newsletter, and is a Fellow of AAAS.

David Hart, Ph.D. George Mason University
I joined the George Mason faculty in the fall of 2004, after ten years at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. I went to graduate school at MIT, receiving a Ph.D. in Political Science in 1995. My undergraduate degree is from Wesleyan University's Science in Society Program, where I wrote a thesis on patent policy for industrial genetic engineering in 1983.

Todd LaPorte George Mason University
Todd M. La Porte is an associate professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. His current research interests include organizational and social resiliency, and public organizations, governance and the use and impacts of networked information technologies, for which he has received NSF and Pew Foundation support. He has also worked on public attitudes to technology and homeland security, with DHS funding, critical infrastructure protection, and organizational responses to extreme events, such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. His most recent publication in this area is as contributor to and co-editor of Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response: How Private Action Can Reduce Public Vulnerability, with Philip Auerswald, Lewis M. Branscomb, and Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Garrison LeMasters, Ph.D.Georgetown University

David Ribes, Ph.D. Georgetown University
David Ribes is a visiting assistant professor at Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture and Technology Program. Through ethnographic research he addresses questions of large-scale and long-term infrastructure design; the epistemic consequences of information technologies; and transformations in the organization of science funding and policy.

David received his Ph.D. from the University of California San Diego in Sociology and Science Studies. He completed a post-doc at the University of Michigan School of Information. Today he continues his research trajectory through NSF funded comparative studies of ‘virtual organizations’ for physics and the environmental sciences.

Nicholas S. Vonortas, Ph.D. George Washington University
Professor Vonortas received his BA in economics from Athens University (Greece), his MA in Economic Development from Leicester University (UK), and his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Economics from New York University (US). He joined the Elliott School in 1990. He has a joint appointment with the Center for International Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Economics (Columbian School of Arts and Sciences). He specializes in the economics of technological change, science and technology policy, international transfer of technology, and inter-firm cooperation in research and development.

At the Elliott School, Vonortas offers graduate courses on comparative science and technology policy, the creation and diffusion of technological advances, and technology and international competitiveness. Selected recent publications include "Research Joint Ventures: A Critical Survey of Theoretical and Empirical Literature" in Journal of Economic Surveys (2003); "Strategic Research Partnerships: A Managerial Perspective" in Technology Analysis and Strategic Management (2003); and "Science and Technology Policies Towards Research Joint Ventures" in Science and Public Policy (2002).

Caroline S. Wagner, Ph.D. George Washington University
Dr. Wagner specializes in science and technology and its relationship to innovation, policy, and society. Dr. Wagner is a researcher at the Center for International Science and Technology Policy, George Washington University, Washington DC. Among her current advisory commitments, Dr. Wagner serves on the Advisory Board of Research on Knowledge Systems, a program of the International Development Research Centre of Canada and the United Nations Millennium Task Force on Science, Technology, and Innovation. She is a founding member of the Washington Science Policy Alliance.

Dr. Wagner joins GWU after 12 years with The RAND Corporation in Washington DC and Leiden, Netherlands. Prior to joining the RAND Corporation, Dr. Wagner was a Professional Staff Member for the United States Congress Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and before that, in the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. She has also served as an analyst for the United States federal government specializing in comparative analysis of global developments in science and technology. This included a 2-year assignment as an analyst at the U.S. Embassy in Korea. Dr. Wagner has consulted to the World Bank, the European Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the U.S. National Science Foundation and a number of governments.

Dr. Wagner holds degrees in science and technology dynamics from the University of Amsterdam; in science, technology, and public policy from GWU; and in philosophy from Trinity University. She is the author of more than 20 reports on science, technology, and innovation, many of which can be found at http://www.rand.org.

Lee Zwanziger, Ph.D. Virginia Tech
Lee Zwanziger is the designated federal officer (executive secretary) for the FDA's Risk Communication Advisory Committee in the Office of the Commissioner, Office of Policy and Planning, and adjunct professor of science and technology studies at Virginia Tech University. Earlier she worked on the staff of the President's Council of Bioethics, and as a study director at the National Academies' Institute of Medicine on projects ranging from institutional review boards and data privacy to the anthrax vaccine, and held several previous FDA positions in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. She came originally to the FDA from Peace Corps service, teaching biological and physical sciences and medical ethics in Malawi's national school of health sciences. She holds a doctorate in history and philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh, and a masters in biological sciences from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Primary interests include the intersection(s) of public policy, science and philosophy pertaining to the life sciences.