Teresa Bernhard was appointed the Agency Environmental Coordinator (AEC) in November 2020. In this role, she oversees compliance with Federal Regulatory requirements for Environmental Impact Assessments across the Agency. In addition, Teresa represents USAID to the National Invasive Species Council and acts as the USAID liaison to the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. Concurrent with her AEC appointment, Teresa serves as the Bureau Environmental Officer (BEO) for the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI).
From 2009 to the present, Teresa led efforts to implement USAID's environmental regulations (22 CFR 216) and to streamline and integrate the results of environmental impact assessments into decision-making at USAID serving as the BEO for the E3 and DDI Bureaus (2012- present) and for the Global Health Bureau (2009-2012). Prior to joining USAID, Teresa served as the Environmental Director at the Joint Guam Program Office of the U.S. Department of the Navy. In this capacity, Teresa managed all environmental aspects of a multi-billion dollar transition program for the U.S. Marines, including assessments of threatened and endangered species, cultural resources on Navy property in Guam and surrounding islands, and the evaluation of other environmental requirements such as the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act. Prior to this role, Teresa worked with the U.S. Navy on the National Environmental Policy Act implementation for Navy projects and on projects related to contaminated terrestrial and aquatic military property.
Teresa earned her master’s degree in Public Administration from American University and her Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from the University of West Florida. She has completed additional postgraduate study at the Federal Executive Institute for executive leadership and the University of Wisconsin on remediation of aquatic environments.