Dr. Mahlet N. Mesfin is a Nonresident Fellow at the Stimson Center in the Environmental Security Program. Most recently, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Ocean, Fisheries and Polar Affairs in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and as a senior advisor on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff in the Biden-Harris administration.

She previously served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as the Assistant Director for International Science & Technology and at the U.S. Department of Defense as a policy fellow. In her policy career focused on issues at the intersection of science, technology, and foreign affairs, she has also led the Center for Science Diplomacy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, worked as a visiting scholar at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, and served as a consultant and policy fellow at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Engineering. 

Dr. Mesfin holds a Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and degrees in biomedical engineering and chemical engineering from the University of Michigan.