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Sci on the Fly
April 6, 2026
Surviving and Thriving during the AAAS STPF Executive Branch Finalist Week
Congratulations on making it to finalist week! Finalist week can be very busy and hectic, particularly as you request and navigate interviews with host offices you are interested in. My goal with this post is not to overwhelm you, but to offer several strategies for starting finalist week off on the...
Sci on the Fly
October 22, 2020
Reflecting on One Exceptional, Partly Virtual Year on Capitol Hill
This blog post was originally published on September 25, 2020 at InSight by IEEE: https://insight.ieeeusa.org/articles/ieee-usa-congressional-fellowships/ Serving as a 2019-2020 IEEE-USA Congressional Fellow on Capitol Hill has been an honor and a privilege...
Sci on the Fly
October 28, 2020
Finding Your Science Policy Path
By Steph Guerra The following is an excerpt of a blog post by STPF Executive Branch Fellow Steph Guerra, originally published at Addgene.org on September 22, 2020. “But, seriously, what even is science policy?” I have been asked this many times throughout my...
Sci on the Fly
November 15, 2020
Community is Key at The Innovation Station
The importance of community has been clear to me since I was young. I grew up in a small town and witnessed the power of community in situations as frivolous as high school homecoming or as serious as devastating floods. Communities thrive when they come...
Sci on the Fly
January 27, 2021
A Message from the new Executive Editor for the Sci on the Fly Blog
Write it down. Write it all down. That’s one great piece of advice my mentor gave on the first day of my fellowship, and it’s allowed me to chronicle my accomplishments and failures (or, ‘opportunities’) throughout my fellowship years, and something I like to...
Sci on the Fly
January 28, 2021
Reporting Tricks and Communication Tips for Scientists in Government
This summer I had the exciting opportunity to write environmental science stories for a newspaper as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow. The Mass Media Fellowship pairs early career scientists with newspapers, science magazines, radio stations, and other media...
Sci on the Fly
February 5, 2021
The STPF Application: 5 Tips for Writing the One-page Memo
You want me to write… a policy memo? Around February of every year is the magical time when prospective AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships applicants hear back about their semi-final status. If you're one of the applicants who are still in the...
Sci on the Fly
February 11, 2021
The STPF Application: 6 Tips for the Semi-final Interview
So, tell me a little bit about yourself… At first glance, the semi-final interviews for the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship (STPF) seem intimidating. You have to prepare a memo, be ready to justify it, and then answer several standard interview...
Sci on the Fly
February 25, 2021
The Thrill of the (Government Job) Hunt: How to Master the USAJobs Puzzle
This article was originally published by the Author at ThePOSTDOCket. As a participant in the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships (STPF) program I had always dreamed of applying my scientific knowledge to civil service. Through my fellowship placement...
Sci on the Fly
March 24, 2021
Using Microbe Art to Engage with Science
One December day in 2017, I came across a picture of a Christmas tree. This wasn’t your average festive fir, though – it was drawn using multicolored bacteria strains: green evergreen boughs, red garland, a yellow star topper, and a dark trunk. I thought it...
Sci on the Fly
April 1, 2021
7 Tips for the AAAS STPF Finalist Interview Week
Congratulations! You survived the semi-finalist round of interviews for the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship (STPF), and you are now a finalist. For STPF finalists, interviewing in Washington is an exciting and exhausting experience. With the COVID...
