Francesca Grifo

Dr. Francesca Grifo is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Scientific Integrity Official. Her research interests and areas of expertise include Scientific Integrity in Federal Decision Making, Conservation of Biological Diversity, STEM Education, and Environmental Policy.

Prior to her appointment at EPA, Dr. Grifo was Senior Scientist, Science Policy Fellow, and director of the Scientific Integrity Program for the Union of Concerned Scientists. Previously, she served as the director of the Science Teachers Environmental Education Program and Graduate Policy Workshop at Columbia University, and as the director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History. Her government experience includes work as a program manager of the International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) for the National Institutes of Health as well as service as an American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science and Diplomacy Fellow (AAAS) for USAID’s Office of Research.

Dr. Grifo has held adjunct and other professorial appointments at American University, Georgetown University, Columbia University, and Bard College. She has taught at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, including courses such as environmental science, introductory biology, conservation biology, biodiversity and human health, and case studies in conservation biology in the Hudson Valley.

She has organized symposia and given talks at various scientific society meetings and has been widely quoted in the press in outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times, as well as Rachel Maddow, several National Public Radio programs, and many others.

Dr. Grifo is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was awarded the Distinguished Service in Science Policy Award from the Washington Academy of Sciences. Dr. Grifo received her BA in biology from Smith College and her PhD in botany from Cornell University.