Authors

Amber Mace, Ph.D. is Deputy Director of the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) and is a Policy Fellow with the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy. Mace devotes her time to building new and revitalizing existing programs and organizations that are dedicated to increasing the impact and value of science-informed decision-making.

Prior to this, Mace served as the Associate Director of the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy. She also served as the executive director of the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) and assistant secretary for coastal matters at the California Natural Resources Agency. In this role she applied her background in ocean policy and marine ecology and collaborative leadership skills to guide the state in developing policies that promote the sustainable use of California's ocean ecosystem. Prior to that, she served in the dual roles of science advisor to the OPC and executive director of the California Ocean Science Trust, a non-profit whose mission is to provide objective, high-quality science to decision makers.

She learned firsthand about the challenges of public policy-making at the federal level as a Knauss Fellow in the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and at the state level as a California Sea Grant state fellow at the California Natural Resources Agency. Amber was recognized as a Coastal Hero by Sunset magazine in 2011 and her California coastal research experience includes piloting a submersible with the Sustainable Seas Expedition. She earned a bachelor of arts in geography from UC Berkeley and a doctorate in ecology from UC Davis and the Bodega Marine Laboratory.

Sarah Brady, Ph.D. is a Senior Program Associate for CCST and the Co-Chair of the CCST Science Fellows Alumni Network. Sarah most recently served as Legislative Director in Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla's office where she was hired after her placement as a CCST Science and Technology Policy Fellow in 2014. Sarah initiated policy work to retain women in STEM careers by preventing pregnancy discrimination in graduate programs. The law requires all California colleges to establish a family leave policy for their graduate students. Sarah also spearheaded legislation to increase the use of biomethane, reduce the cost of college textbooks, and improve access to computer science education. In addition, she conducted bill analysis and provided vote recommendations to Assemblywoman Bonilla on all bills related to utilities and commerce, energy, water, natural resources, and environmental toxicity.

Prior to the Fellowship, Sarah earned Bachelor's degrees in Chemistry and French from North Central College and a Doctorate in Chemistry at the University of Oregon researching the degradation of plastics. She was also a GK-12 Fellow and an NSF-IGERT Fellow where she worked at the Hong Kong Baptist University.

Puneet Bhullar is the Program Assistant for the CCST team. She provides high-level administrative support on various CCST projects.

Prior to joining CCST, Puneet worked in numerous non-profit offices where she provided support for our states most disenfranchised communities. During this time, she worked with homeless veterans across the Central Valley and displaced refugees in Sacramento.

Puneet graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Davis.