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 in BISO have included six U.S. National Committees in math and physical sciences, NAS representation on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, and visa policy. Prior to 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. 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 has served on the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Committee on Public Affairs (COPA), and represented COPA on the AGU Meetings. Jeana Edkin joined BISO in February 2010 as a Communications Associate. Jeana maintains the websites of BISO and the U.S. National Committees as well as manages the International Visitors Office. She holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, and she is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Cybersecurity. Jeana has previously designed websites, worked as a marketing coordinator, and specialized in life, health and fixed annuities as a licensed insurance agent. Jeana is an active community service volunteer, having assisted with the Special Olympics, and is currently a member of the Humane Society. Ana M. Ferreras, a Program Officer supporting the U.S. National Committees for the mathematics, math instruction, crystallography, 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. National Committees for biological sciences, astronomy, mathematics, optics, and physics. Ms. Gamble began her career at The National Academies as a Library Assistant with the 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 1998, 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 Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP); the Board on Global Science and Technology (BGST); and the Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC). Prior to joining the Academies, he worked for four years at a regional commercial bank in Michigan. Peter graduated from Hope College in Holland, MI in 2002 with a B.A. in Accounting, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University. Kathryn (Kate) Hughes is the program officer for the USNC/Chemistry. She has a joint appointment with the Board on International Scientific Organizations (BISO) and the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST). This link is very important given the upcoming International Year of Chemistry. Prior to joining the National Academies’ staff, Kate was a Science Policy Fellow with the American Chemical Society. She received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Michigan, and holds a bachelors degree from Carleton College. 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 optics, psychology, theoretical and applied mechanics, and the Pacific Science Association. 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 World 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. Lois E. Peterson Kent 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 the U.S. National Committees for 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). Catherine Preston joined BISO in April 2010 as a Research Associate. She currently works at the National Academy of Sciences’ J. Erik Jonsson Center in Woods Hole, where she is responsible for broadening the reach of the International Institute of Applied System Analysis (IIASA) and Distinctive Voices @ The Jonsson Center to a wider, more diverse U.S. audience. She has her masters in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Ester Sztein is Assistant Director of BISO and a Senior Program Officer supporting the U.S. National Committees for Quaternary research, geological sciences, geodesy and geophysics, and soil 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 Communications or for Programs for its DC Metropolitan Chapter for the past four years. 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, Geological Society of America, International Medical Geology Association, and Soil Science Society of America. Lina Stankute-Alexander recently joined BISO as a Program Associate to provide support for the U.S. National Committees for geodesy and geophysics, geological sciences, soil sciences, Quaternary research, optics, and radio science. Lina is a Lithuanian native and received her BA degree in English in Vilnius, Lithuania. She has been working as a freelance linguist and translator, editor and reviewer for vast numbers of American and European translation agencies, a number of governmental institutions, including the US Department of Justice, the FBI, as well as private companies and individuals. Lina is also currently working for the National Geographic magazine reviewing international edition translations and is a member of the American Translators Association and the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. Her previous professional experience also includes 6 years of management at the Bombay Company. Lynelle Vidale is the Program Associate to the Board on International Scientific Organizations where she coordinates meeting logistics, travel and project assistance for all ongoing committees. She joined the Academies in 2008 and previously worked with DELS' Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology as a Senior Program Assistant. A native of the DC area, Lynelle received her BS in Business Administration at Howard University; and is currently seeking a Master of International Management, at the University of Maryland University College, in Adelphi, Maryland.
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