About

Patricia M. DeMarco, Ph.D.

“As individuals and people acting together, we have the power to change the world toward a sustainable future. I believe we already have the solutions for sustainability in hand. No “silver bullet” technology is necessary. We just need the moral fortitude to take action. The laws of Nature are not negotiable. We must adjust our laws to live in harmony with Nature and work to strengthen the life support systems of the Living Earth.”

Bio

Patricia M. DeMarco is the Mayor of the Borough of Forest Hills, PA. (2026-2030). She is a Pittsburgh author with a doctorate in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh. She has spent a fifty-year career in energy and environmental policy in both private and public sector positions. She writes and lectures in the fields of sustainability, energy and environmental policy, and natural history.

She learned her craft in public policy from Connecticut Governor Ella T. Grasso, for whom she served as policy advisor to the National Governors Association Low Level Nuclear Waste Compact negotiations. and liaison to the Connecticut Energy Advisory Board.

She served as Executive Director of the Connecticut Power Facilities Evaluation Council (siting power and telecommunication facilities). She worked in the utility industry as Demand Side Manager for the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, she served as a Commissioner of the Regulated Utilities Commission of Alaska.

She returned to Pittsburgh in 2006, and served as Executive Director of the Rachel Carson Homestead Association then as Director of the Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham University, where she now holds an appointment as Senior Scholar and Adjunct Faculty.

She sits as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and as a Board Member for the Black Appalachian Coalition and for the Mon-Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Curriculum Vitae and Appointments

Mayor, Forest Hills Borough, PA 2026-2030.
Board of Trustees, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens 2019 to Present; Secretary of the Board of Trustees 2022-2023, Vice President 2024-2026, Chair 2025-2027
CONNECT (Congress of Neighboring Communities) President 2021-2022 Chair, Research Policy Council 2024 to Present
Senior Scholar, Chatham University, Senior Scholar and Adjunct Faculty 2012 to present
Forest Hills Borough Council Member 2016-2020 and Vice President 2020 to 2023
Pennsylvania Municipal League- Board of Directors 2021-2024.
Battle of Homestead Foundation – Treasurer 2018 -2020, Board Member 2021-2022
Board of Trustees, Allegheny Land Trust 2020 -2023

DOWNLOAD FULL CV HERE [.pdf]