Boehlert Announces Several Changes to House Science Committee Staff

WASHINGTON – House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) today announced numerous changes to the Science Committee staff.

“I am very pleased to have the opportunity to hire qualified new staff, while also promoting some of our most talented staff from within the Committee,” Boehlert said. “I am sad to see some of my friends leave who have been a part of my staff for many years, but I’m also proud of them and know that they are going to accomplish many good things in their new roles.”

Taking over as Chief Counsel for the Science Committee is Sara Gray.  Effective July 11, she replaced Mike Bloomquist, who recently accepted a position with the Energy and Commerce Committee.  Prior to joining the Committee staff, Gray was an attorney for Stoel Rivers LLP in Portland Oregon.  She also has previously worked on Capitol Hill in the office of Representative Boehlert as a Legislative Assistant, and later worked for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure as a Professional Staff Member.  Gray graduated with a Bachelors degree from the College of William and Mary in 1992 and later earned her Juris Doctor degree from Cornell Law School in 2003. 

Effective September 26, Amy Carroll replaced Eric Webster as Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards (ETS).  Webster left to become Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Carroll had been serving as Professional Staff Member and Designee to ETS Subcommittee Chairman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI).  She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelors degree in biochemistry and environmental science in 1996, and earned her Ph.D. in environmental microbiology from Cornell University in 2002.  Carroll started her career on Capitol Hill as a Congressional Fellow for the Science Committee, sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology.  

Effective October 3, Elizabeth Grossman replaced Dan Byers as Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Research.  Byers left to become Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  Grossman had been serving as Professional Staff Member for the Subcommittee on Research.  Prior to joining the Subcommittee, Grossman was a program officer at the National Academy of Sciences.  She graduated with a Bachelors degree in physics and mathematics from Swarthmore College in 1992 and later earned her Ph.D. in computational physics from the University of Chicago in 1997. 

Mike Holland joined the Subcommittee on Energy on July 11 as a Professional Staff Member and designee to Subcommittee Chairman Judy Biggert (R-IL).  Prior to joining the Subcommittee, Holland worked for the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he oversaw research and development accounts in the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.  Holland received his Bachelors degree in chemistry and electrical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1989.  He later earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1998.

Tind Shepper Ryen joined the professional staff of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics on September 1, replacing Chris Shank, who departed the Committee to assume a position as Special Assistant to NASA Administrator Mike Griffin.  Ryen previously worked at the University of Colorado for the Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes.  He earned a Bachelors degree in astrophysical studies from Princeton University in 2001 and will receive a Masters degree in environmental studies from the University of Colorado this December. 

Rachel Jagoda-Brunette joined the Subcommittee on Research as Staff Assistant on July 7, replacing Jimmy Hague, who left to pursue his second Masters degree at the University of Colorado.  Jagoda-Brunette had been serving as Staff Assistant to the Full Committee.  In her new position, she is responsible for staffing Subcommittee hearings and markups, drafting correspondence, overseeing the administrative functions of the Subcommittee, and providing support to the Subcommittee staff.  A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Jagoda-Brunette graduated from Georgetown University in 2003 with a Bachelors degree in physics.  She is currently attending George Washington University part-time, where she is pursuing a Masters degree in political management.

Jagoda-Brunette was immediately replaced as Full Committee Staff Assistant by Devin Bryant, a native of Studio City, California. Bryant’s responsibilities include tracking Committee correspondence and overseeing the daily administrative functions of the Committee’s front office.  Bryant had been working on the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics as an intern.  He graduated from the University of Redlands in 2004 with Bachelors degree in Space Policy.