Maria UHLE

Director for International Activities, GeoSciences Directorate, National Science Foundation (NSF), United States

Dr. Maria Uhle currently serves as the Program Director for International Activities for the Directorate for Geosciences at the U.S. National Science Foundation.  She is responsible for developing mechanisms and programs that foster international collaboration in Global Environmental Change Research.  She currently serves as the 1st Vice Chair of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) Executive Council, the U.S. National Focal point for the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research and the acting NSF member of the Belmont Forum.  Prior to her appointment at NSF, she served as an International Affairs Officer in the Office of International and Academic Affairs (OIAA) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where she developed agreements to promote research collaboration with NIST’s international partners from many countries including those in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Prior to working at NIST, she served as a Program Officer for the National Academy of Sciences Polar Research Board and the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate.  She directed several committees that addressed topics relevant to the Arctic and Antarctic, and focused on reanalysis of historical climate data, and climate projections based on emission scenarios.  Before joining the NAS, Dr. Uhle served on the faculty at the University of Tennessee in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.  Her background includes degrees in environmental science and geology, and her research focused on investigating the fate of organic matter and contaminants in atmospheric, surface water and soil environments from urban areas and the polar deserts of Antarctica.