28th February Footprint Forum will be addressed by Jack Bobo, Senior Advisor on Biotechnology to John Kerry, United States Department of State. If you have not yet registered Click Here
Jack A. Bobo, JD, MS, Senior Advisor for Biotechnology; Chief, Biotechnology and Textile Trade Policy Division, United States Department of State.
Jack Bobo is the Senior Advisor for Biotechnology in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB) at the U.S. Department of State. He also serves as the Chief of the Department’s Biotechnology and Textile Trade Policy Division. Mr. Bobo works on trade policy, food security, climate change, and development issues related to agricultural science and technology, including agricultural biotechnology.
EB formulates and carries out U.S. foreign economic policy, integrating U.S. economic interests with U.S. foreign policy goals. EB implements American economic policy in cooperation with U.S. companies, U.S. Government agencies, and other organizations. The bureau negotiates agreements with foreign governments and advances U.S. positions in such international organizations as the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the World Trade Organization.
Mr. Bobo is responsible for developing and implementing U.S. trade policy related to new agricultural technologies and working with foreign governments to address regulatory barriers to U.S. agricultural exports. He also works closely with officials from developing countries to support the development of biosafety legislation and facilitate technology transfer to increase agricultural productivity, improve food security and respond to climate change through mitigation and adaptation.
Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Bobo practiced law at the Washington, D.C. firm of Crowell & Moring, LLP. His education includes a degree in law, a Master of Science in Environmental Science, as well as degrees in chemistry, biology and psychology. Previously, Mr. Bobo received a research fellowship in international law at Cambridge University, England, served as an advisor to the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee, and taught science in Mekambo, Gabon in Central Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He lives in Potomac, Maryland with his wife, Dr. Qiao Bobo, daughter and son.
