{"id":6895,"date":"2018-01-17T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T18:16:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:16:05","slug":"finding-common-ground-in-public-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Common Ground in Public Service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scott J. Cameron, MBA \u201979<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Finding<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scott Cameron is drawing on four decades of experience in public and private natural resource, energy, and environment management \u2014 and his proficiency in building bridges across diverse constituencies \u2014 to implement an ambitious change agenda at the U.S. Department of the Interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As principal deputy assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget, Cameron oversees the central management functions of a federal agency with 70,000 employees and a $14 billion annual budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Department of the Interior has a multifaceted mission,\u201d Cameron says. \u201cIts eight bureaus range from the National Park Service\u201d \u2014 which manages 59 parks, including Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite \u2014\u201cto the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which deals with some of the most impoverished communities in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since his appointment in January 2017, Cameron has focused on integrating the disparate missions across the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo some extent, the department is really a holding company of fiercely independent subsidiaries, each of which has its own culture,\u201d explains Cameron. \u201cThe challenge is one of integration; to create synergies across these various capabilities, make sure they\u2019re not working at cross-purposes, and get them focused on a common objective \u2014 to the extent their underlying congressional authorizations allow them to have a common objective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the current administration, that common objective centers around \u201cfunctioning in an environment of constraint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in an environment where cash is short, and budgets are unlikely to go up at the national level,\u201d Cameron says. His focus is on reducing overhead to maximize available resources and identifying the inefficient duplication of services and \u201cactivities that are low value or not contributing to the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameron has had a long and distinguished career in the public sector. He has also held elected public office as a director of the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, served as a congressional staffer, and worked for the State of California, where he wrote and negotiated the first National Governors Association policy on invasive species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A passionate advocate for more effective invasive species control programs, Cameron founded the Reduce Risks from Invasive Species Coalition (RRISC), a nonprofit that educates Americans about the significant risks posed by invasive plants and animals to the economy, environment, and public health of the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019d asked me 20 years ago what two things I would never do in my life, one would be running for elected office and the other would be founding an organization from scratch,\u201d says Cameron. Yet in his early sixties, he did both. Cameron and his wife, Holly, live in Alexandria, Va., and have a son, Carson, who is a student at the College of William and Mary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott J. Cameron, MBA \u201979 Scott Cameron is drawing on four decades of experience in public and private natural resource, energy, and environment management \u2014 and his proficiency in building…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":6896,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[196],"ppma_author":[11],"class_list":["post-6895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-profiles","tag-archived"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFinding Common Ground in Public Service - Cornell Business Centers & Institutes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Scott J. Cameron, MBA \u201979 Scott Cameron is drawing on four decades of experience in public and private natural resource, energy, and environment\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding Common Ground in Public Service - Cornell Business\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scott J. Cameron, MBA \u201979 Scott Cameron is drawing on four decades of experience in public and private natural resource, energy, and environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Centers & Institutes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-17T05:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T18:16:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"833\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"555\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel Cherry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel Cherry\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rachel Cherry\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/483887a306c16ef5516d1fbccd06df98\"},\"headline\":\"Finding Common Ground in Public Service\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-17T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-14T18:16:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":446,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Archived\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni Profiles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/\",\"name\":\"Finding Common Ground in Public Service - Cornell Business Centers & Institutes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-17T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-14T18:16:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/483887a306c16ef5516d1fbccd06df98\"},\"description\":\"Scott J. Cameron, MBA \u201979 Scott Cameron is drawing on four decades of experience in public and private natural resource, energy, and environment\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg\",\"width\":833,\"height\":555},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/17\\\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Finding Common Ground in Public Service\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Centers & Institutes at Cornell Business\",\"description\":\"Cornell SC Johnson College of Business\",\"alternateName\":\"C&I\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/centers\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/483887a306c16ef5516d1fbccd06df98\",\"name\":\"Rachel Cherry\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Finding Common Ground in Public Service - Cornell Business Centers & Institutes","description":"Scott J. Cameron, MBA \u201979 Scott Cameron is drawing on four decades of experience in public and private natural resource, energy, and environment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Finding Common Ground in Public Service - Cornell Business","og_description":"Scott J. Cameron, MBA \u201979 Scott Cameron is drawing on four decades of experience in public and private natural resource, energy, and environment","og_url":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/","og_site_name":"Centers & Institutes","article_published_time":"2018-01-17T05:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-14T18:16:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":833,"height":555,"url":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rachel Cherry","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rachel Cherry","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/"},"author":{"name":"Rachel Cherry","@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/#\/schema\/person\/483887a306c16ef5516d1fbccd06df98"},"headline":"Finding Common Ground in Public Service","datePublished":"2018-01-17T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-14T18:16:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/"},"wordCount":446,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg","keywords":["Archived"],"articleSection":["Alumni Profiles"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/","url":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/","name":"Finding Common Ground in Public Service - Cornell Business Centers & Institutes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-01-17T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-14T18:16:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/#\/schema\/person\/483887a306c16ef5516d1fbccd06df98"},"description":"Scott J. Cameron, MBA \u201979 Scott Cameron is drawing on four decades of experience in public and private natural resource, energy, and environment","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Scott-Cameron-and-Bear-833x555-1.jpg","width":833,"height":555},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2018\/01\/17\/finding-common-ground-in-public-service\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Finding Common Ground in Public Service"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/#website","url":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/","name":"Centers & Institutes at Cornell Business","description":"Cornell SC Johnson College of Business","alternateName":"C&I","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/#\/schema\/person\/483887a306c16ef5516d1fbccd06df98","name":"Rachel Cherry"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-18 13:27:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"authors":[{"term_id":11,"user_id":33,"is_guest":0,"slug":"rc827","display_name":"Rachel Cherry","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/291dad291c2985a6fc76cb92e0239bbbc34eece546f5b984ef6c12566f40598a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","exclude_author":"","first_name":"Rachel","last_name":"Cherry","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6895"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12765,"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6895\/revisions\/12765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6895"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=6895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}