Embassy of the United States of America
Budapest, Hungary
February 17, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Expert on Gender, Climate Change & Innovation Visits Hungary
Policy Advisor on Gender, Climate Change, and Innovation in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues Dr. Aubrey Paris visited Hungary from February 12-15. During her visit, Dr. Paris met with representatives of the Hungarian government, climate experts, and university students in Budapest, Veszprém, and Tihany to discuss the critical role that women and girls play as innovators, scientists, and entrepreneurs in addressing the climate crisis.
In a meeting with Hungarian government representatives from the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Paris discussed women’s leadership as a necessary component to solving climate challenges. She also engaged with representatives from the Budapest Mayor’s Office, the Association of Hungarian Women in Science, and the Regional Center for Energy Policy and Research to better understand opportunities for, and barriers to, advancing women’s leadership in science and policy making in Hungary. Dr. Paris also visited Semmelweis University, where she urged doctoral-level students in materials science and medicine to apply their skills to address pressing public problems and to ensure women and girls can contribute to the solutions.
Following a visit to Balaton Limnological Research Institute in Tihany, Dr. Paris delivered a public presentation at the University of Pannonia of Veszprém in which she discussed the drivers and impacts of climate change, including environmental degradation at the local level. Dr. Paris examined the role of women, girls, and marginalized populations in building community resilience, in addition to exploring the economic opportunities and environmental challenges posed by the creative and entertainment industries.
After the public lecture, Dr. Paris was a guest on the University of Pannonia’s Faculty of Economics podcast channel. She spoke about women’s critical role in disaster risk reduction and response efforts. She also shared her experiences and what inspired her to address women, girls and climate-related community challenges, and the role of women in building and strengthening community resilience. Dr. Paris also discussed successful examples of women-led initiatives that have improved community resilience, the factors that contributed to their success, and also how individuals can support local and global efforts to combat the climate crisis. At the university Dr. Paris also had the chance to sit down for a discussion with local climate experts.
Dr. Paris’s visit is one of many ways the U.S. Embassy strengthens educational and cultural cooperation between the United States and Hungary. For more information about opportunities to host American experts, scholarship and study abroad programs, American Corners, funding opportunities, and other educational and cultural programming, visit https://hu.usembassy.gov/education-culture/.
Photo credits: Laszlo Szabo/University of Pannonia
DR. AUBREY PARIS
Policy Advisor for Gender, Climate Change & Innovation
Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI)
U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC
Aubrey R. Paris, Ph.D., is a Gender, Climate & Innovation Policy Advisor in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) at the U.S. Department of State where she leads policy and public diplomacy efforts that ensure the leadership of women and girls in developing solutions to climate change. Previously, she served as a Science, Technology & Innovation Policy Advisor in the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary (E/STAS). She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and Materials Science from Princeton University (2019), as well as an M.A. in Chemistry from Princeton and a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from Ursinus College.
Currently, Dr. Paris leads the State Department’s Innovation Station initiative, which she launched in 2021 to amplify the impact of woman and girl innovators in developing solutions to climate change. The initiative also builds subnational networks and spurs conversations on science and the environment between domestic and international communities. In addition to virtual events and a quarterly newsletter, Innovation Station includes a podcast moderated by Dr. Paris which features woman and girls who are finding innovative ways to impact the environment in their communities. Guests in 2022 have discussed with Dr. Paris their work to protect endangered species, create sustainable landscapes, facilitate clean shipping, change environmental practices in the entertainment industry, bring more sustainable processes to the manufacturing industry, and use art and stories to improve access to national parks. To date, Innovation Station has engaged audiences in 115 countries and nearly all 50 U.S. states and counts more than 75 women and girls as part of its network.
Dr. Paris recently authored the State Department’s monthly “Science Speaks” blog series, where she shared thoughts and posed questions to readers on today’s most important science and technology issues, from carbon dioxide utilization, land degradation, and water security to energy efficiency, ocean acidification, and the green and blue economies.
Prior to joining the State Department, Dr. Paris was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and Energy and Climate Scholar at Princeton University, where she designed catalysts capable of transforming carbon dioxide into useful and marketable products, such as fuels and chemical feedstocks. During her graduate studies, she contributed to research projects on water security implications of Chinese-financed, coal-fired power plants and the future of U.S. nuclear energy in the face of climate change. In her spare time, Dr. Paris is the co-creator of “National Treasure Hunt,” a podcast, book, and tour exploring niche intersections between academic disciplines (e.g., science, history, literature, ethics) and the National Treasure film franchise.
