Rona Birnbaum

Rona Birnbaum is Director of Strategic Initiatives for Climate and Health in the Environmental and Occupational Health Department at George Washington University Milken School of Public Health. Rona holds a BA in political science and a MA in Environmental and Natural Resource Policy from George Washington University. After graduating from GWU, Rona began a long career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

For over 30 years, Rona worked at the interface of science and policy - - including developing, evaluating and leading programs at EPA to reduce air pollution and protect public health. Her expertise spans assessing and communicating health, environmental, and economic impacts of climate change and air pollution, and developing cost-effective solutions to address them. She led EPA’s Climate Science and Impacts Branch for 15 years where she led a multidisciplinary team of scientists, analysts, and communications experts in translating complex scientific findings into actionable insights that shaped national regulatory action and advanced public discourse of climate-related health risks and economic damages. Her team pioneered science communication methods, such as EPA’s climate change indicators, that made climate health impacts accessible to non-technical audiences, and developed assessment frameworks to inform climate action. In her most recent leadership role at EPA, she led the Clean Air and Power Division where she managed regional and national air pollution programs, particularly emissions trading programs, led operations of power plant data collection, environmental and energy analyses, and advanced climate partnerships with businesses and local communities.