Staff
Donna Gerardi Riordan joined the Academy in 2017 with three decades of experience in science policy. With degrees from Georgetown University and George Washington University, she served for 14 years as a staff member at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., where she founded and directed its Office of Public Understanding of Science. While working on policy issues in California in the 2000s, she was the co-architect of the first state-level Science & Technology Fellows Program, which places scientists and engineers in the state legislature. While consulting with national and state level organizations, primarily on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, she founded Research Northwest, a non-profit organization devoted to generating best available science for policy decisions. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Donna is a board member of the Orcas Island Community Resources Center and loves living in the Pacific Northwest.
donna.riordan@washacad.org | 206.539.7453
Yasmeen Hussain is the Program Officer for the Washington State Academy of Sciences, facilitating existing and future WSAS studies. Yasmeen’s experience includes managing programs for the Professional Development Hub, serving as a AAAS Science and Tech Policy Congressional Fellow in the office of Rep. Bill Foster, and working as an Associate Program Officer and Mirzayan Fellow at the National Academies in Washington, DC. Yasmeen earned her PhD in Biology at the University of Washington and a BS in Mathematics and Biology at the University of Utah. Yasmeen volunteers her time in science education and mentoring, and serves on the board of the Association of Women in Science (AWIS) Seattle Chapter.
yasmeen.hussain@washacad.org | 206.539.8559
P. Joe Conry is the Program Finance Manager for the Washington State Academy of Sciences. Joe is a first generation college graduate and an honors graduate from St. Louis University in the Executive Masters of International Business program. He has 32 years of finance, contracts, and program management experience including 12 years as an executive. He retired from Boeing as a Senior Director of Finance in Global Operations. Joe has a wide range of experience in finance supporting research and development, materials development, supply chain, shop floor manufacturing, cash management, facilities, and product development. One common theme is his years of experience in collaborating with engineers and scientists as a trusted finance partner to help further the scientific mission on leading-edge technologies.
ellie.evaenes@washacad.org | Ellie Evaenes, Program Operations Manager
We can’t do the important work of WSAS alone. We’ve worked with amazing consultants, contractors and interns in the past few years. Read about them here.