Science fellows craft policy on capitol hill

While in graduate school at the University of Washington, particle physicist Matt Bowen attended a symposium lecture on energy policy by Nobel laureate Steven Chu. The talk inspired Bowen to pursue energy-policy issues, and he became a senior program associate for the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems at the National Academy of Sciences. This year he was selected as an American Physical Society (APS) congressional fellow and is working with Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) on energy issues.

Bowen is part of a class of more than 160 science and technology (S&T) policy fellows who are working for a year in Congress or in executive-branch agencies (see story on page 27). Congressional fellows are sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and some of its member societies, and other organizations; after completion of a rigorous summer orientation session conducted by AAAS, each fellow was placed in an appropriate office.

Audrey Ellerbee, a recent graduate with a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University, heard about prospects for scientists in Congress from a lab-mate. “Everyone in the lab knew that I was interested in opportunities outside of academia,” she says. Her colleague told her about the S&T policy fellowship program organized annually by AAAS. “I had not heard about it before but thought it might be a great opportunity for me, so I applied,” she says. Ellerbee was selected for the Optical Society of America (OSA) and SPIE Arthur H. Guenther fellowship and is currently engaged in tax and banking policy issues for Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). Although working in a field outside her training, she is drawing from her diverse background, which includes a summer stint as a financial analyst with JPMorgan Chase and Co.

Joining the mafia

Alicia Jackson is working on the staff of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Jackson, who has a PhD in materials science and engineering from MIT, is this year’s recipient of the joint fellowship from OSA and the Materials Research Society (MRS). “I want to use my scientific knowledge to benefit society,” she says, “but I didn’t want to be in the lab for the rest of my life.” Her personal goal while on the energy committee is to learn “where science comes to play in the policy process.” She adds that more scientists need to learn how to frame their issues in ways that policymakers can understand. As it happens, her OSA/MRS fellowship predecessor, Kevin Whittlesey, who worked for Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA) and is staying there through the end of this year, contributed guidelines for improving communication between scientists and nonscientists in the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act (see Physics Today, September 2007, page 34 ) that was passed into law this year.

Bowen discovered that many former congressional fellows are still running around Washington, DC, and in government. “I’m very excited to be joining ‘the mafia,’” he says, using the term that AAAS fellows apply to themselves. “Everyone looks out for each other, and former fellows form a great network and are willing to give advice, even when they are busy.”

“I want to learn how government works,” says Alex Apotsos, a PhD civil engineer and oceanography expert also from MIT. Apotsos, the newest American Geophysical Union (AGU) fellow, previously spent two years as a Peace Corps water engineer in Mali and was discouraged by the way international policy can adversely affect underdeveloped regions. He is now motivated, he says, to learn how to get science incorporated into policy as he works on water resource issues in the office of Sen. John Tester (D-MT).

John Veysey is this year’s AIP congressional fellow and a physicist from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Through his experience in the office of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), he hopes to learn about basic-science research funding. Veysey will assist the Menendez staff on the Senate energy and natural resources committee.

An inch deep and a mile wide

Eleanore Edson, last year’s OSA/SPIE fellow, recalls her work on health policy for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) as incredibly rewarding. “I certainly learned more in that one-year period than I had in any other year.” Her advice to the new crop of fellows is to “get accustomed to having a very broad portfolio. [Policy work] is inch deep and mile wide, … and prioritizing multiple tasks will become a critical skill.” Edson, currently a program officer at the Office of Naval Research through a AAAS S&T fellowship, hopes to pursue a career in international science policy.

Last year’s APS fellow, Don Engel, worked for Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) on the America COMPETES Act. Engel says he learned that “policymaking is based on trust. Congress relies on experts to advise them, and they tend to trust scientists and professors.” Engel now has a new fellowship and is working on policy analysis for APS. Alex Saltman extended his APS fellowship and continues to work for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on nuclear nonproliferation. Mark Wenzel, last year’s AGU fellow, has extended his tenure on the staff of Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), where he contributes technical expertise to many issues, including energy, the environment, and competitiveness.

Jonna Hamilton, last year’s AIP congressional fellow, is now a AAAS fellow with the Foreign Agricultural Service at the US Department of Agriculture. “Policymakers are usually willing to meet with scientists who are willing to lend their knowledge to policy formulation,” she says.