M. Karen Walker is pursuing her PhD at the
University of Maryland's Department of Communication,
specializing in rhetorical-critical theory. Her program
of study concerns how people create and share meaning
through their choice of words, images, symbols and
actions. Ms. Walker's perspective is grounded in
program planning, policy development and practice
achieved through 15-plus years' government experience,
primarily in the arenas of education, sustainable
development, and foreign affairs.
While serving as a public affairs officer with the
U.S. Information Agency (now part of the U.S. Department
of State, Ms. Walker implemented public diplomacy programs
to assist emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe;
engaged in policy development on the United States' role
in a post-Cold War world; and promoted the Agency's
environmental diplomacy initiatives.
As a scientist-engineer at the
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
Ms. Walker provided policy planning
and technical support to a broad range of policy officials
to advance energy efficiency and energy security objectives.
Near the end of her tenure, Ms. Walker contributed to the
establishment of the Laboratory's Environmental Security Center,
which has since expanded into the
Pacific Northwest Center for Global Security.
Returning to the U.S. Department of State in November 1997,
Ms. Walker continued her work in environmental security as
an official of the
Bureau of Oceans and Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
As a program officer in the
Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs,
Ms. Walker managed the
Business Facilitation Incentive Fund, directing resources
to Embassies and Consulates to support free enterprise
in developing markets; helped American companies compete
for foreign government contracts and advocated their
interests overseas; and supported the development of
e-readiness initiatives. In her last position, with
the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Ms. Walker managed
a grants program under the auspices of the
Middle East Partnership Initiative
to advance education reform and
entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa.
From May 2003 - May 2005, Ms. Walker served in the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and
Technology Directorate, where she brought the social
and behavioral sciences to bear in meeting homeland
security requirements, including a research thrust
to understand and exploit terrorist motivation and intent.
Ms. Walker also served as Executive Secretary of the
National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee
on the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, as
well as the NSTC's Biometrics Research and Development
Interagency Working Group.
Ms. Walker is a volunteer writer/editor at the
International Child Art Foundation, where she served in
a pro bono capacity as Director of Strategic Alliances
from February 2005 - June 2006. Ms. Walker has also
provided organizational and subject matter expertise to
an anticipatory sciences/community resilience network under
the auspices of the National Disaster Risk Communication Initiative.
Her website is
www.rhetoricalens.info.
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