Juliana Birkhoff

Juliana E. Birkhoff is an experienced mediator, facilitator, dispute resolution trainer, and scholar. She combines her theoretical understanding, research experience, and group learning and collaboration skills to flexibly respond to complex group planning, problem solving and decision making challenges. In her 22 years of experience as a mediator and facilitator, she has worked with federal, state, and local level government as well as consumer, community, grassroots, and public interest groups. She has designed and conducted a variety of collaborative and consensus-based multi-stakeholder dialogues, workshops, and scientific review processes designed to improve communications, develop group learning, integrate complex information and provide input into state or federal plans or policies, develop recommendations, or create agreement on plans and policies. She has particular experience in facilitating and mediating complex scientific and technical issues in politically charged contexts.

Dr. Birkhoff is an experienced trainer and teacher. She has designed and conducted a wide variety of negotiation, collaboration, and conflict resolution trainings for non-profit, governmental agencies and advocacy groups. Her training focuses on helping technical and scientific experts to work productively in collaborative processes and to expand the capacities of stakeholders, agency conflict resolution specialists, and collaborative leaders to handle team leadership, collaboration, and conflict resolution.

She has extensive background in multi-disciplinary research on conflict and conflict analysis, in particular focused on using collaborative decision-making processes in politically charged and technically complex issues. Her previous research projects include best practices for integrating complex scientific and technical information into collaborative processes and how stakeholders and collaborative leaders integrate different ways of knowing in collaborative processes.

From 1993 until 1996, Dr. Birkhoff held a teaching appointment at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University. As well as teaching graduate courses in conflict resolution theory, research, and practice, she supervised students clinical and research experiences in communities and organizations.

Before her appointment at George Mason University, Dr. Birkhoff served as the program officer of the Fund for Research on Dispute Resolution; a Ford Foundation funded research grants program. Under her management, the Fund for Research on Dispute Resolution awarded 47 grants totaling approximately $2.2 million. She serves on the Leadership Committee of the Environmental and Public Policy Section of the Association of Conflict Resolution. She is a member of the Collaborative Action Team which works with Federal Agencies to develop more collaborative cultures and practices to work with citizen groups.