Biography - Carol A Pollio

Dr. Carol A. Pollio is the Chief of Natural Resources and Science for the National Park Service, National Capital Region. In this position, she manages the Center for Urban Ecology and a staff of technical experts in various natural resources fields. In her previous position, she served as Science Advisor for the US Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region Ecological Services Program. She supervised 13 Ecological Services field offices from Maine to Virginia. She also served 5 years in the USFWS Washington Office, gaining experience in fisheries and aquatic resources management, education and outreach, and habitat restoration at the national policy level. She has been with the USFWS for 9 years.

Before returning to the National Park Service, Dr. Pollio had spent 24 years with the agency, primarily in field positions, including positions in natural resources management, federal law enforcement, and wildland and structural firefighting. She was assigned to 6 parks and the North Atlantic Regional Office, including national park units in VA, WV, NC, NJ, and MA.

Dr. Pollio’s experience in the National Park System has included gaining expertise in abandoned mine reclamation, environmental contaminants remediation, and biological assessment of disturbed and contaminated sites. She has conducted scientific research, inventory and monitoring, and published her results in several peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Pollio served as a Commissioned Federal Law Enforcement Officer for 16 years, a Red-Card Certified Wildland Firefighter for 24 years, and a Firefighter I and II (Structural) for 2 years. She is a trained Critical Incident Stress Debriefer, HazMat Responder (HAZWOPER), American Red Cross Community First Aid and Safety Instructor, and licensed Virginia Commercial Pesticide Applicator.

For more than 28 years, Dr. Pollio has actively served in the US Coast Guard Reserve. Now a Commander, she was activated in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, serving as a member of the USCG Lessons Learned Team responsible for evaluating the largest mobilization of the Coast Guard Reserve since WWII. She was also deployed to the Gulf Oil Spill in 2010 and served as the Liaison Officer to Santa Rosa County, Florida. As a member of a deployable CG unit for 7 years, she traveled to Portugal, Turkey, and Panama to conduct foreign port security exercises.

Dr. Carol Pollio received a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University, a Master of Science in Environmental Science from Marshall University, and a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management from Rutgers University.