Advancing Science through Policy

Join us for a lunch discussion with Rebecca Adler Miserendino (Caltech BS‘06), currently one of Caltech’s lobbyists in Washington, D.C., as well as a former Foreign Affairs Officer and Senior Climate Finance Advisor with the U.S. Department of State, to hear about her pathway from academia to policy and roles advancing science through policy and advocacy.  The lunch talk is a collaboration between The Caltech Y Student Activism Speaker Series (SASS) and the Linde Center for Science, Society, and Policy (LCSSP). SASS Lunches are open to any member of the Caltech affiliated community; however, if space becomes an issue, priority will be given to students.   Views expressed are solely those of the speaker(s).  Questions can be directed to caltechy@caltech.edu 

Dr. Adler Miserendino leads Lewis-Burkes environmental and international focused issue groups and drives advocacy and consulting strategies to enable clients to compete for federal funds, shape new programs, build international engagement, develop coalitions, and raise their profile with key policy stakeholders.   She has worked for over fifteen years across scientific disciplines and in the international arena to understand budget and policy trends, enhance institutional effectiveness, and to identify emerging opportunities relevant to the research and higher education communities.

Prior to joining Lewis-Burke, Adler Miserendino was a Senior Adviser, Foreign Affairs Officer, and Physical Scientist at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, serving in both the Office of Global Change (OES/EGC) and the Office of Environmental Quality and Transboundary Issues (OES/EQT). In this capacity, she negotiated on behalf of the United States and advised senior U.S. officials on a variety of crosscutting matters to advance U.S. global environment, climate, and health priorities; and to safeguard the role of science in policy decision-making.  While at DOS, Adler Miserendino covered topics relating to international climate and environment finance, serving as the lead adviser on the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility, and on specific aspects under the Multilateral Development Banks.  In these roles, she was invited to participate in and/or provide advice to several U.S. delegations including: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; UN Forum on Forests; Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions; UN Convention on Biological Diversity; and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.