DAVID TRINKLE - DIRECTOR
Dave is the Director of BRDO, where he coordinates a diverse team of research development experts. Drawing on over 20 years of experience with federal research agencies and over a dozen years with UC Berkeley, he also advises the Vice Chancellor for Research, deans, and faculty on federal funding opportunities and strategy. While at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from 2000 to 2007, he was responsible for budget development and related policy issues for NSF, NASA, OSTP, and research agencies across the government. In previous work at the RAND Corporation and the Aerospace Corporation, he performed engineering and policy research for several federal agencies, including NSF and the Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Transportation. He has a Ph.D. in Policy Analysis and degrees in Electrical Engineering and Systems Engineering.
Contact: dtrinkle@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail)
ERICA WHITNEY - ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR STRATEGY AND TRAINING
Erica is BRDO’s Associate Director for Strategy and Training. Erica provides a wide range of strategic initiative and proposal development services, with expertise in facilitating team building and team science, project conceptualization, proposal organization, and editing. Erica also has significant experience providing training on proposal development, NIH and NSF policies and programs, and scientific writing. Erica has supported research development efforts at UC Berkeley since 2010, building on her research development positions at UC Davis and the UC Davis School of Medicine from 2004 to 2010. Her technical writing and editing experience extends back to 1998. She has a degree in History and Political Science from Wellesley College.
Contact: evwhitney@berkeley.edu
PANAGIOTIS VAGENAS - DEPUTY DIRECTOR
Panos is the Deputy Director of BRDO, where he provides strategic proposal development support. Prior to joining BRDO, Panos was one of the inaugural members of the research development team at San José State University, where he helped shape the vision and practices of the Office of Research and supported the development of complex proposals to federal agencies. Panos has over 20 years of research experience. He received his bachelor’s and master’s in biochemistry and Ph.D. in immunology from Imperial College London and a Master of Public Health from Yale. He was a faculty member at the Yale School of Medicine, focusing on substance abuse and HIV. Following Yale, he joined a global health and development nonprofit, where he oversaw the institutional research agenda, the ethical conduct of research, and strategic research planning. He has authored over 20 peer-reviewed articles published in high-impact journals and, in addition to grant writing and reviewing, he is experienced in quantitative and qualitative research methods, research design, project management and evaluation.
Contact: pvagenas@berkeley.edu
EMMA ATTARD - RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST
Emma is a Research Development Specialist at BRDO, working across a broad spectrum of funding opportunities. Emma comes from a communications background and for several years worked in a corporate environment as an Account Director for a London-based marketing agency. Experienced in writing for a variety of audiences, Emma has supported clients in areas as diverse as biometrics, and travel and tourism. In recent years, she worked in development for a prestigious charter school based in Santa Cruz, prior to taking a job in Research Development at San José State University. Emma holds a B.A. in Ancient World Studies and an M.A. in Ancient History, both from University College London.
Contact: eattard@berkeley.edu
CASSIE BYRD - RESEARCH OUTREACH SPECIALIST
Cassie is a Research Outreach Specialist at BRDO. She provides a range of proposal support services, with a focus on helping principal investigators strategize and develop plans that expand the Broader Impacts of their research. She is a scientist and science educator with over 20 years of teaching, leadership, and project management experience. She began her career as a clinical laboratory scientist for the United States Air Force. For a decade, she worked at the Exploratorium in San Francisco where she created programs that promote scientific literacy. And most recently, as Chief Learning Officer at Michigan Science Center, she oversaw the development of all educational programs, managed a diverse team of educators, established and built community partnerships, and obtained federal, foundation and corporate funding to support new programs. Cassie believes that building collaborative networks and sharing knowledge is the key to having the greatest impact on public education and advancing equity in and through STEM careers.
Contact: cabyrd@berkeley.edu
VICTORIA STEFFES - RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST
Victoria is a Research Development Specialist at BRDO, specializing in complex proposal development for the College of Engineering(link is external). She joined BRDO directly from finishing her Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara in Biochemistry with an emphasis in Bioengineering, during which she was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2015–2018). She received a B.A. in Biochemistry from Barnard College (Columbia University) and completed post-bac research at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Victoria has diverse STEM editing, science communication, and grant proposal support experience. She worked with the Research Development Office at UC Santa Barbara during her PhD, specifically as part of the new faculty training program. She loves learning about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of research projects, and about the impacts of research and technology on society. Victoria enjoys the challenge of using her communication skills to craft clear, strong proposals in support of the compelling research at UC Berkeley.
Contact: vsteffes@berkeley.edu
TANYA VOLKERT - PROGRAM MANAGER, LIMITED SUBMISSIONS
Tanya is the Program Manager for Limited Submissions at BRDO. In her role, Tanya manages internal competitions for limited submission funding opportunities. Tanya works with stakeholders from across the campus to advance the most competitive concepts for submission and strengthen concepts in development for future opportunities. Prior to joining BRDO, Tanya was on the research development team at Rutgers University where she managed internal ideation and seed funding programs, in addition to limited submissions. Tanya served in the Peace Corps in Cameroon from 2016-2017 where she was a grant writer for community projects, as well as a science teacher and teacher trainer. Tanya holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Boston University.
Contact: tvolkert@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail), ltdsubs@berkeley.edu