Photo: Dr. Ana Peršić 

Dr. Ana Peršić is Programme Specialist for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policies and Open Science at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris where she leads the UNESCO Open Science Programme.

An ecologist by training, she holds a Master’s degree in Ecological Sciences from the University of Padova (Italy) and a PhD in Ecotoxicology from the University of Paris-South (France). Dr. Peršić joined UNESCO in April 2006  in the Man and the Biosphere Programme. From 2011 to 2018, she served as the Science Specialist at the UNESCO Liaison Office in New York. In 2018, she joined the STI Policy Section in Paris, where she played a central role in coordinating the development of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.  As Head of the UNESCO Open Science Programme, she continues to advance its global implementation.