Amber Mace

As Managing Director/Chief of Strategic Partnerships, Dr. Amber Mace is responsible for aligning the Academy's work with its strategy as well as overseeing the Academy’s divisions dedicated to science and education. She joined the Academy in October 2023 with a focus on deepening and expanding the Academy’s regional, national, and international partnerships.

Before joining the Academy, Mace spent 10 years at the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), where served as CEO since 2018 and before that as Deputy Director since 2013. During her time at CCST, Mace built a diverse and high-performing team to deliver scientific guidance to the state of California on a range of important issues, from climate change to disaster resilience to energy policy. Through a collaborative and inclusive approach, she has spearheaded many cross-sectoral partnerships to tackle some of today’s most pressing issues.

Before joining CCST in 2013, Mace served as the inaugural associate director of the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy. Early in her career Mace worked in the National Marine Sanctuary Program in San Francisco, where she led the development of a visitor center on Crissy Field. She has served as executive director of the California Ocean Science Trust and science advisor to the California Ocean Protection Council. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her as the assistant secretary for coastal matters at the California Natural Resources Agency, where she then served as executive director of the California Ocean Protection Council.

In addition, Mace served nine years on the National Sea Grant Advisory Board at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She is also a member of the California Sea Grant Advisory Board and the San Francisco Estuary Institute Board of Directors.

Mace earned a BA in geography from the University of California, Berkeley, a PhD in ecology from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from the Wharton School.