Dr. Ashley Bear is the Director of the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In this capacity, she oversees a portfolio of projects examining factors that shape participation and advancement in these fields. At the Academies, Dr. Bear has led committees of experts and staff teams in carrying out consensus studies, workshop series, and national outreach efforts designed to provide stakeholders with evidence-based guidance on strengthening the recruitment, retention, and leadership development of talent in science, engineering, and medicine.

Previously, Dr. Bear worked for the National Science Foundation’s Division of Biological Infrastructure, where she managed a portfolio of mid-scale investments in scientific infrastructure and conducted analyses of the impact of NSF funding on the career trajectories of postdoctoral researchers. She also served as a Science Policy Officer in the State Department’s Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary, where she promoted science diplomacy, tracked emerging scientific trends with implications for foreign policy, managed programs to build scientific capacity within the Department, and liaised with regional bureaus. Dr. Bear holds a Sc.B. in Neuroscience from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale University.