As Senior Director of Communications for the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Research, Julie Lalo serves as a senior strategist and leader to communicate the research enterprise at Pitt. She works collaboratively across the university to provide coordinated and effective information for researchers and staff, as well as external partners and constituencies.

Just prior to coming to Pitt, Lalo served as Director of Communications for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, leading strategic communications and environmental education for the 2,500-person state regulatory agency. Prior to that post, she served as Director of Affiliate Partnerships for National Wildlife Federation, managing a network of independent but aligned state non-profit organizations.

She has served as an executive communications leader of teams at state non-profit organizations, and for more than a decade, operated an editorial services and communications firm, providing guidance and content to state agencies, non-profits, educational institutions, and foundations, and serving as a speaker on related subjects. She has served on the board of directors of State Environmental Leadership Program, the Rachel Carson Homestead Association, and was appointed by Governor Tom Ridge to serve on the Advisory Council to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

She received a bachelor of arts in journalism from Pennsylvania State University.