Fellow Betsy Van Holle Travels to India for Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum

Betsy Von Holle is no stranger to travel. In her research of the habitat invasibility by non-native plants, she has traveled to the southern Appalachian highlands, the Negev desert in Israel, and has spent three years as a National Park Ecological Research Fellow at Harvard Forest. Her most recent research adventure will take her more than 7,000 miles away from Washington, D.C. to New Delhi, India.

As part of a joint venture between the U.S. State Department and the Indian government, Von Holle, along with 10 other U.S. scientists, will meet with 15 scientists and policy makers from India from November 8-19. The Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum seeks to foster better working relationships between Indian and U.S. scientists in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and biomedical research. During her four day workshop, she will present from her findings as an AAAS Fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and will lend her thoughts on how scientists can affect policy decisions.

Von Holle's previous work at the EPA includes the Missouri River to Red River Valley Water Supply Project which exposed her to international policy issues since the Red Valley River flows from Missouri and eventually into Canada. She served as an advisor of the likelihood of the successful transfer of non-native plants in the river system.

Von Holle is a 2005 - 2007 AAAS Fellow. She received her Ph.D., at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and is currently an assistant professor at University of Central Florida.

For more information about the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum please visit, http://www.indousstf.org/.