STAFF BIOGRAPHIES

Kathie Bailey Mathae, Director of the Board on International Scientific Organizations (BISO), began her career at the National Academies in February 2005 when she joined BISO as a Program Officer. After serving as Senior Program Officer and BISO’s Deputy Director, she was appointed Director in May 2007. Her responsibilities to date have included six U.S. National Committees (USNCs) in math and physical sciences, as well as visa and export control policy. Prior coming to the National Academies, Ms. Bailey Mathae worked for the Association of American Universities for 14 years. Prior to that, she worked for Congresswoman Lindy Boggs (D-LA) as associate staff for VA-HUD appropriations and special projects assistant. Ms. Bailey Mathae has a B.A. from Milligan College and a J.D. from Tulane University.

Lisa E. Bevell, Communications Associate, serves as the BISO Site Manager updating BISO’s Web pages, including those of the various scientific committees, organizations, and U.S. National Committees managed by BISO.  She also supports the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (USNC/IUPAC) and is the Fellowship Coordinator for United States applicants to the IUPAC Young Observers Program.  Ms. Bevell received her B.A. from the University of Mary Washington and holds a Graduate Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from George Mason University.  She is interested in international communication, linguistics, and volunteerism.  She enjoys using technology to develop efficient, creative solutions.

Katherine Bowman joined BISO in 2006 as a Program Officer. She supports five U.S. National Committees to international unions in the biological sciences and the USNC to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In addition to her work with the National Committees, Dr. Bowman is particularly interested in emerging biological and chemical technologies and responsible use of scientific research. Prior to becoming a Program Officer, she was a Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academies working on biosecurity issues. She received her B.A. in Biology from Amherst College and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Between college and graduate school, she worked as a legal assistant in both Washington, D.C. and Boston. In her free time, she enjoys kayaking, hiking, and motorcycling.

Margaret Goud Collins is a Senior Program Officer for the U.S. IIASA National Member Organization (NMO), a position she held at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 1997-2003, before NMO responsibility returned to the NAS. Dr. Collins is also the Program Officer for the U.S. National Committee to DIVERSITAS, a cross-disciplinary program on biodiversity. From 1994-1997, she served as Special Assistant to the NOAA Chief Scientist; her responsibilities involved formulating and executing policy related to NOAA’s science program, including interagency activities, particularly NAFTA, and on international environmental and economic issues for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. She has a Ph.D. in Geological Oceanography from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography (1987), and a B.S. in Geology from Stanford (1978). She serves on the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Committee on Public Affairs (COPA), and represents COPA on the AGU Meetings.

Ana M. Ferreras, a Program Officer supporting the U.S. National Committees for the mathematics, math instruction, crystallography, theoretical and applied mechanics, and physics, joined BISO’s staff in 2008.  Dr. Ferreras holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering (IE) at the University of Central Florida (UCF).  She also holds an M.S. in Engineering Management from the Florida Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UCF.  During her doctoral research, she assisted the IE Department at UCF in reengineering the undergraduate curriculum by developing a national model, new programs, experiential laboratories, and research centers.  Prior to joining BISO's staff, she was a winter 2008 Christine Mirzayan Policy Graduate Fellow with the Center for Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE) at the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

Pam Gamble is the Administrative Associate to the Director and a Senior Program Assistant for the BISO Board, the U.S. Advisory Committee for the International Commission for Optics, the U.S. Liaison Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, and the U.S. National Committees for biological sciences, astronomy, and mathematics. Ms. Gamble began her career at The National Academies as a Library Assistant with Board on Science and Technology for International Development (BOSTID) in 1986. She later worked as a Program Assistant and Senior Program Assistant with the Committee on International Organizations and Programs (CIOP) in the Office of International Affairs. In 1991, CIOP became the Board on International Scientific Organizations in the Policy and Global Affairs Division. Ms. Gamble has served on numerous Academy focus groups and committees. She is currently a volunteer member of the African American History Committee. She is also the unofficial photographer for the Policy and Global Affairs Division.

Peter Hunsberger is a Financial Officer supporting the Board on International Scientific Organizations (BISO). Peter has worked at the National Academies since 2006.  In addition to BISO, he also works with the Board on Research Data and Information (BRDI); the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP); and the Committee on Women, Science, Engineering and Medicine (CWSEM).  Prior to joining The National Academies, he worked for four years at a regional commercial bank in Michigan.  Mr. Hunsberger graduated from Hope College in Holland, MI in 2002 with a B.A. in Accounting.  His interests include soccer, running and traveling.

Karumuna A. Kaijage joined BISO's staff in 2009 as a Program Officer supporting the International Visitors Office and the U.S. National Committees for the Pacific Science Association and Optics.  He will also assist with a number of special projects, including BISO's annual symposium.  A native of Tanzania, Mr. Kaijage has served as the Education Program Manager at the Worlds Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and as a World Bank Consultant in Washington, DC.  He is an International Development Consultant with innerCHANGE associates international (iCHai) based in Sewickley, PA and has served as Project Coordinator for the East African Child Development Project with the California-based nonprofit organization "A New Africa Starts With Education" (ANASWE).  He holds a B.A. in economics from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a Heinz Fellow with the School of Public Policy and Management. 

Kofi Kpikpitse, Program Associate, manages the International Visitors Office (IVO).  He also supports the U.S. National Committees for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Psychology, Math Instruction, Pacific Science Association, and the International Union of Radio Science (URSI).  A native of Ghana, Mr. Kpikpitse has a background in museum education and has served as a teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District in California and Montgomery County, Maryland. 

Avihai Ostchega is a Senior Program Assistant supporting the U.S. National Committees for the International Unions of Quaternary Research, Geological Sciences, Geodesy and Geophysics and Soil Sciences, as well as the U.S. National Committees for the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and DIVERSITAS. Prior to joining BISO, Mr. Ostchega received his B.A. in Liberal Arts from Antioch University in Seattle, Washington. After 10 years on the west coast he accepted a position at a linguistics company in D.C. where he worked as a program manager. His interests include comparative religion, mythology and conflict science.

Lois E. Peterson has worked at the National Academies since 1991 and with BISO since January 1997.  She is currently working part-time, assisting on various Board activities.  In the past, she served as Assistant Director and Program Officer for three U.S. National Committees: Soil Science, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and the Pacific Science Association. Her other duties with the Board have included assisting with program and financial oversight and working on issues relating to UNESCO and scientific openness. Other National Academies activities on which Ms. Peterson has worked include the project on democratization, international security and arms control, landmine detection, and alternatives to landmines. While in graduate school, she was the convention coordinator for the International Studies Association. She holds an M.A. in International Studies from the University of South Carolina, a Certificat d’Etudes Européennes from the Free University of Brussels, and a B.A. (Economics and Political Science) from Augustana College (Illinois).

Ester Sztein is Assistant Director of BISO and a Senior Program Officer supporting the U.S. National Committees for the International Unions of Quaternary Research, Geological Sciences, Geodesy and Geophysics, Soil Science, and Psychological Sciences. As a research scientist, Ester pioneered the study of hormone metabolism in land plants within an evolutionary context and has published her research in peer-reviewed journals.  Since 2000, she has collaborated as an editor with the Biometeorology Institute (Bologna, Italy).  As a nonprofit officer, she collaborated on conservation and educational projects in Latin America and Africa.  A member and former consultant for the Association for Women in Science, she has served as the Vice President for Programs for its DC Metropolitan Chapter until December 2007.  She has taught plant biology at the University of Maryland and the University of Buenos Aires.  In addition to English and Spanish, Ester is fluent in Italian and Portuguese.  She holds a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from the University of Maryland and earned her B.Sc./M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  She is a member of Sigma Xi, the American Geophysical Union, American Quaternary Association, Botanical Society of America, SSSA, Geological Society of America, International Medical Geology Association, and Soil Science Society of America.

Revised: August 2009

To comment on this Web page or report an error, please send feedback to BISO Site Manager.