An extremely educative lunch with Prof. Sherburne Abbott based on her experience in fields of Environmental Science and the legal side of it all; the workings of the government sector.

In her current position with the Executive Office of the President, Abbott manages a portfolio of science and technology policy that ranges from energy and climate change to environmental quality and sustainability. President Obama appointed her to the position and she was confirmed by the Senate in April 2009.
Prior to her current appointment, Abbott served as the director of the Center for Science and Practice of Sustainability in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost at the University of Texas at Austin, and as a faculty member of the College of Liberal Arts. Previously, she served as chief international officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Prior to that appointment, over a 17-year period at the National Academies’ National Research Council, she served as executive director of the Board on Sustainable Development, the director of international organization programs for the Office of International Affairs, and the director of the Polar Research Board of the National Academies’ National Research Council. Abbott also served as assistant scientific program director of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission.