Policy

AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in Stability and Humanitarian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Defense

As an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Annalise supports the office of Stability and Humanitarian Affairs. She focuses on stabilization, prevention of conflict, environmental security, and protection of cultural heritage. At DoD, she helped establish and now leads the Resource Competition, Environmental Security, and Stability (RECESS) team to inform DoD strategic thinking on these topics.

Annalise gave a 3 min 10×20 presentation for the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships Year-end Summit about RECESS. The group was also featured on the DoD website: Scientists, Policy Experts Assess Environment’s Impact on Stability, Defense Strategy.

Annalise co-leads the AAAS Policy Fellow Water Affinity Group, which brings together fellows from different agencies for activities including a recent tour of the Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant.

Mirzayan Fellow in Policy & Global Affairs at the National Academy of Sciences

Annalise served as a Mirzayan Policy Fellow Science and Technology Policy Fellow in Policy & Global Affairs at the National Academy of Sciences in 2019. She prepared the Workshop in Brief: “The Convergence of Violent Extremism and Radiological Security.” As a fellow, Annalise also helped organize science diplomacy workshops, led development of grant applications, and designed materials on water, terrorism, and conflict.

Rainfall and Streamflow Forecasts for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

As a Glenadore and Howard L. Pim Postdoctoral Fellow in Global Change at Johns Hopkins University, Annalise worked with a team (the ad hoc Blue Nile forecast group) to create forecasts to inform Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations and filling. The first forecast was published in 2018 in the Climate Hazards Group Blog: Average to above average blue Nile river flow expected in 2018.

Agrilinks published forecasts for 2019 and 2020 by the ad hoc Blue Nile forecast group.

Annalise led publication of the work in a peer-reviewed article and wrote about the policy implications in the New Security Beat, titled “Nile River Water Supply Forecasts May Reduce the Chance of Conflict.”

Annalise was also interviewed about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on Resources For the Future’s Resources Radio: Getting Filled In on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Forecast-Informed Water Resources Management

As a visiting fellow at the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Policy Program, Annalise co-led a workshop held at AAAS called Translating Advances in Forecasting to Inform Water Resources Management bringing together water resource managers, forecasters, academics, and policy makers. The second day of the event included a Hill briefing with Congressional staffers.

She also co-authored a number of policy publications related to her work at AMS:

• Blum, A G and Miller, A. (2019). Opportunities for Forecast-Informed Water Resources Management in the United States. Bulletin of American Meteorological Society.
• Miller, A, Blum, A G, and Higgins, P A T. (2018). Opportunities for Forecast-Informed Water Resources Management. An AMS Policy Program Study. The American Meteorological Society, Washington, D.C. 

• Higgins, P A T, Seid-Green, Y, Miller, A, and Blum, A G. (2018). Toward an Integrated Approach to Water. An AMS Policy Program Study. The American Meteorological Society, Washington, D.C.