Joe Pickard serves as the Chief Economist and Director of Commodities at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. where he conducts research and analysis on commodity and scrap market developments and the key economic role that recycling plays in the United States and abroad. Pickard regularly provides information and insights on the primary and recycled iron and steel, nonferrous metal, paper, plastics and electronics markets to the 1,300 ISRI member companies as well as to industry associations, policymakers, the press and the general public. As a current member of the Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee and Industry Trade Advisory Committee No. 5, he serves as an advisor on scrap-related trade issues to the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Pickard previously served as the economist for The International Copper Study Group in Lisbon, Portugal and as a research analyst at Slayton & Associates in Alexandria, Virginia. He previously worked at nonprofit organizations including the Urban Institute and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Pickard holds a master’s degree in Economics from Virginia Tech, a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Loyola University Maryland, and also studied at George Mason University and K.U. Leuven in Belgium.