Allison Schwier is the 2014-2015 AMS Congressional Science Fellow. She currently works for Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE), advising on issues related to energy and the environment. Current portfolio issues include climate change, coastal resilience and adaptation, oil and natural gas exports, Keystone XL, technology transfer and wildlife trafficking.

Prior to her fellowship year, Allison lived in France for two years, working as a post-doc at the Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique in Clermont-Ferrand, part of the French national laboratory system, CNRS. While there, she studied marine aerosol formation and properties, focusing on effects of ocean acidification on cloud formation. Much of her time was spent on large-scale research campaigns along the Mediterranean Coast or on the French island of Corsica.  

Allison received her Bachelor’s degrees in Music (emphasis voice) and Chemical Engineering from Penn State University and her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University. Her dissertation, advised by V. Faye McNeill, focused on surfactant effects of secondary organic aerosol.