Leadership

Dr. Robert Bergstrom is the Founder and Director of the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI), a non-profit research institute with a mission to enable world-class scientists to do groundbreaking research. Under Dr. Bergstrom's leadership, BAERI has worked collaboratively with NASA Ames' Earth Science Division for over 20 years. Dr. Bergstrom holds a Bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University, and Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Purdue University in Mechanical Engineering. He completed post-doctoral research in atmospheric physics at the University of Mainz, Germany and at NASA's Ames Research Center. Since 1972, his research has focused on the radiative properties of atmospheric aerosols. In addition to his career as a research scientist, Dr. Bergstrom holds a law degree from Stanford University. Before founding BAERI, Bergstrom worked as an Assistant Regional Counsel for the US Environmental Protection Agency, and co-founded the legal software company Legisoft.

Dr. Susan Alexander holds two positions at the California State University Monterey of Bay: Professor of Ecology in the Division of Science and Environmental Policy, and the Director of the Applied Marine and Watershed Science M.S. degree program. A member of the CSUMB faculty since 1996, she is a leader in higher education program development serving Hispanic students and underrepresented populations in STEM education. Dr. Alexander holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University and a Doctoral degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. She completed her post-doctoral research in ecological modeling and remote sensing at NASA's Ames Research Center. Since 1997 she has served as the leader of a Cooperative Research program between NASA Ames' Earth Science Division and CSUMB to carry out research, technology, and application development in the area of applied earth systems and environmental science. In this role she has overseen over $20 million dollars in grant-funded research conducted by dozens of senior investigators, resulting in over 150 publications.