Dr. Gifford Wong (he/him) is currently a Research Staff Member (RSM) at the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) in Washington, DC.. He has experience and expertise in the areas of environment, energy, resource management, ecology, U.S.-China bilateral relations, and science communication. Before joining STPI, he served as a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State through a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship. His portfolio included oceans management, maritime security, Polar issues, energy, public health, environmental change, wildlife trafficking, and space. Prior to that, Gifford served as climate and environment adviser to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse while on the American Geosciences Institute Congressional Science Fellowship. He holds a doctorate in Earth sciences from Dartmouth College, an Honours in Antarctic Studies from the University of Tasmania at Hobart, and a bachelor’s in Asian American Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.