Gifford J. Wong

Gifford J. Wong is currently a Research Staff Member (RSM) at the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) in Washington, DC. STPI is a federally funded research and development Center (FFRDC) that was established by Congress to inform the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President. STPI’s main role is to provide responsive, high-quality analyses of science and technology issues important to OSTP and other executive branch sponsors (e.g., National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Defense). 

Before joining STPI, Gifford served as a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State through an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowship, where his portfolio included Polar issues, oceans management, maritime security, energy, public health, domestic and investment-driven environmental change (e.g., Belt and Road Initiative), wildlife trafficking, and space. Prior to joining the State Department, Gifford served as climate and environment adviser to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse while on the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) Congressional Science Fellowship. 

Gifford earned a PhD in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College investigating regional changes in precipitation around northwest Greenland, an Honours in Antarctic Studies from the University of Tasmania at Hobart, and a Bachelor of Arts in Asian American Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.