The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has selected Mary C. Barber as the new Executive Director of the Sustainable Biosphere Initiative (SBI) Project Office. Dr. Barber comes to the Office from Science and Policy Associates, Inc., where she worked on issues related to ecological risk management, global change, biological diversity, ocean pollution, freshwater quantity and quality, and environmental monitoring.
The SBI Project Office was established by ESA in 1992 to address compelling environmental problems such as the sustainability of natural resources, loss of biological diversity, and global change.
Dr. Barber will continue SBI’s most successful projects and develop new programs to address pressing issues such as managing ecological systems for sustainability and evaluating the consequences of human activities on ecological systems.
She has 11 years of experience in the environmental research policy arena, and has worked with policy and decision-makers in the government, industry and public interest sectors, holding positions with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Oceanic Society, and the National Science Foundation. She received her B.A. from Vassar College and her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from John Hopkins University. Her duties at SBI commenced July 1, 1994.