Summer 2014, Fellowship Focus
PROGRAM NEWS
Leading Ecologist on Climate Change and Improving Conditions for the World's Poor
At the 14th Annual Robert C. Barnard Environmental Lecture in May, alumna fellow Rosina Bierbaum spoke about the development community's need for interdisciplinary scientific input on addressing climate effects and sustainability. "Managing ecosystem resources [to improve livelihoods] in a changing climate is really an urgent agenda for scientists and policymakers," she said. Read more
Policy Fellowships Wins NSB Public Service Award
The National Science Board, the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation, announced March 27 that the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships program is the recipient of the 2014 Public Service Award for a group. Read more
NSF also interviewed award recipients. See Director Cynthia Robinson speak about the program in "At the intersection of science and policy."
Bringing the Power of Fellows to ASEAN
Modeled on the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships program and the brainchild of an alumna fellow and a former mentor, April 7 marked the formal inauguration of the ASEAN-U.S. Science and Technology Fellows Pilot Program. The launch signals clear progress toward the goal of ensuring that science informs policy among the member states that comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Read more
FELLOWS IN ACTION
How to Raise a River from the Dead
Click to view "The Pulse Flow Reaches San Luis Rio Colorado".
For the past half century, the Colorado River has rarely made its way to the Gulf of California. Without regular flow of the river's nutrient rich water, the once teeming delta ecosystem and fishing communities have flatlined. But in an achievement of historic proportions, governments, scientists, and volunteers let loose a controlled flow of water on March 23 from the Morelos Dam near Andrade, California into the river's delta. It took nearly two months for the water to travel approximately 94 miles to reach the gulf on May 15. Nature Conservancy hydrologist Eloise Kendy, an American Geological Institute-sponsored fellow in the U.S. Senate from 2003-04, is a key member of the team that implemented the experimental pulse flow. Read more
Transferring Technology Through Diplomacy
A 2012-14 Executive Branch Fellow with the State Department and National Academies of Science and 2011-12 Revelle Fellow, Franklin Carrero-Martínez has been traversing the globe on a mission to encourage technology transfer. In Pakistan, he organized two science and technology conferences. In Mexico, he encourages researchers to take ideas from the lab into real world applications.
On July 1, Jamie Vernon, 2011-13 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Energy,will take the helm of American Scientist. In addition to serving as the magazine's editor in chief, he will also become the publisher's, Sigma Xi, first-ever director of science communications and publications where he will expand the organization's reach in the public and in the professional fields of science and engineering. Read more
Deploying Strategic Science to Respond to Crises
By Kiza Gates (2013-2014 Executive Branch Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey) and Kris Ludwig (2012-2013 Executive Branch Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey and National Science Foundation)
Science is increasingly called upon by the Department of the Interior (DOI) to respond to major environmental crises such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Hurricane Sandy. While much of the science is tactical -- e.g., solving engineering problems -- there is a need for science that is strategic and forward-looking to help prepare for crises, analyze long-term effects, and develop new ways to speed recovery. Read more
Fellows Tackle Climate Change and Bring Making to the People
Fellows form affinity groups to provide a forum to discuss issues in specific areas of interest related to science and policy. Recent affinity group events have engaged government officials, community and corporate leaders, and journalists to discuss governance issues raised by climate change resilience, and convened the creators and funders of maker spaces and education policymakers to share best practices in creating maker spaces. Read more
Interview with a Geek
Last year, the White House kicked off a public outreach campaign to support the future of science and technology (S&T) innovation in the U.S. "We the Geeks" is a series of Google+ Hangouts in which various topics are presented by Administration officials and private sector leaders. Topics include turning science fiction into science fact and the contributions of African Americans to S&T innovation. Fellow Knatokie Ford (2012-14 Executive Branch, Office of Science and Technology Policy) served as moderator of one of the sessions, "We the Geeks: Celebrating Black History Month." Read more
Fellows in Print
See what fellows Daniel Sarewitz ("Our High Energy Planet") and Rich Simmons ("Understanding the Global Energy Crisis") have been writing about at the intersection of science and policy. Read more