Mark Drapeau

Dr. Mark Drapeau is based in Washington, DC and until recently worked in a public-facing capacity for Microsoft, interacting with government, education, health, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial audiences. As their Director of Innovative Engagement and then Director of Business Development and Multimedia Evangelism, he took an anthropological approach toward understanding niche audiences, and then conducted a variety of online and offline activities to help Microsoft obtain relevance and partner with the most innovative thought leaders and entrepreneurs in key metros and verticals.

Before joining Microsoft, Dr. Drapeau served as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the Department of Defense’s Center for Technology and National Security Policy, where he advised senior decision makers on issues relating to the latest advancements in science and technology happening outside the government. Topics he worked on included the ecology of counterinsurgency, energy as a national security crisis, the application of the natural world to military innovation, and the relevance of social media and personal technologies to defense, diplomacy, and intelligence. Prior to that, he worked as an NIH postdoctoral research scientist at New York University’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology.

Dr. Drapeau's writing has appeared in many venues including the New York Times, Science, Mashable, and the Fletcher Forum on World Affairs. His work has been featured in many media outlets including: CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, Fast Company, and Wired.

Dr. Drapeau holds a bachelor’s degree with research honors from the University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of California, Irvine.