ACS Selects Public Policy Fellows

ACS has selected its 2013–14 congressional fellows, who will spend a year working on Capitol Hill as part of the broader American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellowships program.

Fellows provide policymakers with ­information on science-related issues. The scientists, in turn, learn how government works and how science policy is made.

Samuel Bockenhauer has been working in the office of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) since September. His portfolio spans energy issues including biofuels. Bockenhauer earned his Ph.D. this past July from Stanford University, where his research focused on single-molecule spectroscopy of proteins. “I would like to learn how Congress works,” Bockenhauer says. “I hope to bring a scientist’s perspective and an openness to new ideas.”

His work so far has included holding meetings with constituents and interest groups, writing memos on a range of policy topics, and drafting letters to agencies on behalf of the senator.

Kate Stoll will begin her fellowship in January. She was recently a AAAS fellow at the National Science Foundation, where she designed programs to improve graduate education.

“I’m very interested in the impact that science has on society, and in particular the role of science in policy,” she says. “I’m hoping to learn how science and technology impact policy decisions and to gain a genuine understanding of the legislative process from the inside.” Stoll earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 2010 from the University of Washington, Seattle.

The deadline for applications for the 2014–15 public policy fellowships is Dec. 31. In addition to the congressional fellowships, ACS also offers a science policy fellowship. For more information on both, visit www.acs.org/policyfellow.