Speakers

Dr. Kit Batten is the Senior Science and Policy Fellow and Project Director at the Heinz Center.  She is leading the Heinz Center’s Institute for Science Communication and Policy Development.  This initiative brings together scientists, policy makers and members of the media to foster better communications about science which will in turn inform policy development at local, federal, and international scales.  Formerly Dr. Batten has served as the Science Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of the Interior; as Senior Fellow and Managing Director of the Center for American Progress' energy and climate change policy team; as a Legislative Assistant in the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); and as a AAAS Fellow in the office of Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT). Dr. Batten has her masters and doctorate in Ecology.  A large component of her work at the Department of Interior was the communication of climate change impact science, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, including helping lead the creation of the new Interior Climate Science Centers and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives.