United Nations Call to Action on Climate Change

Speaker:

Patricia Beneke

22 Oct 2014

8:00 PM

Sun Room, Memorial Union

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Patricia Beneke is the director and regional representative of the United Nations Environment Programme's Regional Office for North America. She previously served as senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for nearly twenty years, specializing on legislation and oversight matters relating to energy policy, water resources, and environmental issues. She also served as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science, where she played a leadership role with respect to several ecosystem restoration efforts, and was responsible for programs of the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School with a BA in political science from Iowa State University. World Affairs Series

Early in her career, Ms. Beneke was an attorney at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and she also handled environmental litigation as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition, Ms. Beneke served as the Associate Solicitor for Energy and Resources at the U.S. Department of the Interior, and she has also worked in the private sector. Ms. Beneke has taught natural resources law and policy on an adjunct basis at Harvard Law School, Columbia University Law School, the University of Virginia School of Law, the Georgetown University Law Center, and the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.