David Blockstein, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Worldwide Climate and Justice Education Week, Bard College, Fellow, AAAS, SolveClimate2030@gmail.com 301-906-4958 

<p class="MsoNormal">Blockstein is an ecologist and conservation biologist with more than 35 years of national leadership in science and the environment. Blockstein has worked on a wide range of science and policy issues, including climate change and energy education, biodiversity policy, sustainability, increasing the representation of minorities in science, mechanisms to improve the linkages between science and decision making on environmental issues, and digital communication of scientific information on the environment. 

Dr. Blockstein spent 28 years with the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). Dr. Blockstein joined the organization in 1990 and served as its first Executive Director until 1993. Dr. Blockstein founded the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD) in 2001 as the professional organization for the nation's deans of colleges of environment and natural resources and directors of institutes for environmental studies. He founded the Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders (CEREL) in 2006 as part of an effort to build an interdisciplinary field of energy higher education. He served as Executive Secretary of each organization for more than a dozen years. 

Dr. Blockstein was lead organizer for nearly all of NCSE’s 18 annual National Conference and Global Forums on Science, Policy and the Environment. Dr. Blockstein also served as the principal investigator on NCSE’s Climate Adaptation and Mitigation E-Learning (CAMEL) climate change education project (www.CAMELclimatechange.org) and on other education projects funded by the National Science Foundation.  Dr. Blockstein was a member of the Roundtable on Climate Change Education of the National Academy of Sciences. 

In the 1990’s Dr. Blockstein helped to lead the organization’s effort for a federally funded National Institute for the Environment (NIE).

Dr. Blockstein is one of the founders of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS), a professional organization for environmental studies and science faculty, students and professionals.  

As the 1987-88 Congressional Science Fellow of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and American Society of Zoology, Dr. Blockstein worked with the House of Representatives Environment Subcommittee of the Science Committee to prepare the National Biological Diversity Conservation and Environmental Research Act. Dr. Blockstein has a B.S. in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin and a M.S. and Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Minnesota. He has conducted research on conservation of tropical pigeons and doves and on population and community ecology of forest birds. He is the author of the Birds of North America account of the extinct Passenger Pigeon and one of the leaders of Project Passenger Pigeon www.passengerpigeon.org . Dr. Blockstein is the founding chair of the Ornithological Council, an association of North America's professional societies that provide scientific information about birds to policymakers and represents the interests of ornithologists in Washington, DC. 

Dr. Blockstein was a keynote speaker.  at the National Professional Science Master's Association (NPSMA )2nd National Conference. The Conference revolved around Environmental Solutions & Workforce Development. It was held on November 17 - November 19, 2010 at the Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Blockstein was a member of the leadership team for the NSF-funded Interdisciplinary Teaching about the Earth for a Sustainable Future (InTeGrate project),and was on the education team of the USDA-funded Corn and Climate Change project www.sustainablecorn.org. He is on NSF's Advisory Committee on Environmental Research and Education.  

Dr. Blockstein has worked on a wide range of science and policy issues including increasing the representation of minorities in science, climate change education, mechanisms to improve the linkage between science and decisionmaking on environmental issues and electronic processes to communicate scientific information on the environment. He has delivered more than 100 public lectures and more than 20 scientific papers and is a frequent contributor to both technical and popular literature about science and environmental policy. He serves on or has served on committees for scientific and conservation organizations including: American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Institute of Biological Sciences; American Chemical Society; American Society of Zoologists; Society for Conservation Biology; American Ornithologists' Union; Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters; University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences; American Bird Conservancy; World Conservation Union (IUCN); Commission on Education and Communication; Project Learning Tree/World Wildlife Fund; Aldo Leopold Foundation; National Foundation for Environmental Education; and the Environmental Education Coalition.  In 2008 he received the American Institute of Biological Sciences Distinguished Service Award.