In this episode, Mike and Erin dive into the topic of France. An observer of the Arctic Council, an ally of NATO, and member of the EU, France has a central role in furthering scientific exploration and knowledge.
July 3, 2024
minute read time
Give it a Listen
Welcome to our fourth edition of Minute with Mike! We're bringing you installments of conversations between Director Erin Whitney and Senior Advisor Mike McEleney on recent international engagements, history, and energy innovations in the Arctic. Give our last episode about the United Kingdom a listen here.
In this episode, Mike and Erin dive into the topic of France. An observer of the Arctic Council, an ally of NATO, and member state of the EU, France has a central role in furthering scientific exploration and knowledge. France’s polar strategy advances their climate research and partnerships while outlining environmental and security challenges. (Here’s the Polar Strategy in French).
In this Minute with Mike episode, Mike also explains the Arctic’s key role in enabling the D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy and the importance of scientific data in the Arctic to national security. Plus hear about what brought Mike to France this month, and why France is closer than you think to the Arctic.
Erin and Mike closed out with their favorite food and place in France – see what Erin thinks is “just better in France than everywhere else”.
AnneMarie Horowitz
AnneMarie Horowitz is the Chief of Staff for the Arctic Energy Office. She joined the Arctic Energy Office in May 2023, and previously served as the Acting Communications Director until September 2023. AnneMarie has been with the Energy Department since 2010, and was previously on the digital team of the Office of Public Affairs, where she managed digital projects and internal employee communications efforts. AnneMarie was the Digital Communications Manager from March 2023 - September 2023 for the Department of Health and Human Affairs' Public Education Campaign, We Can Do This, to share information about the COVID vaccine.
AnneMarie founded two active employee resource groups at the Department of Energy: POWER (Professional Opportunities for Women in Energy Realized) and the Emerging Professionals Group. From 2015 - 2017 she served as the Special Advisor on workforce issues for Deputy Secretary of Energy Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall. She has also previously worked in the Under Secretary for Management and Performance and the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity.
AnneMarie created the STEM Rising: Women @ Energy series, featuring profiles of women from the agency who work in STEM careers. She was critical to establishing the Equality in Energy Transitions Initiative, a dual-hatted effort of the International Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Ministerial to advance the transition to a clean energy economy by engaging more women in clean energy, and is involved with the U.S. C3E Initiative as an award reviewer and communication. During the Obama Administration she was a DOE designee to the White House Council on Women and Girls. AnneMarie was a U.S. delegate to the APEC Women in the Economy Forum in 2014 in Beijing, China.
AnneMarie has a BA in Political Science from the University of Portland and a Masters of Government from Johns Hopkins University. She resides in Philadelphia.