Megan graduated in 2005 with a B.Sc. in Chemistry with a Specialization in Biochemistry and was recently awarded a prestigious Science and Technology Policy Fellowship through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to learn at the intersection of science and policy. Megan conducted research in the Landers Lab. Congratulations, Megan!
AAAS Announces Megan Frisk of University of Virginia
as a 2016-17 Science & Technology Policy Fellow
Washington, D.C. — Megan Frisk (CLAS 2005) has been awarded a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship with a placement at the U.S. Department of State, in the Office of the Science & Technology Advisor to the Secretary (STAS).
Frisk is among 266 scientists and engineers who will spend a year serving professionally in federal agencies and congressional offices. The U.S. government benefits from the contributions of AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellows who are highly trained scientists and engineers. Fellows, in turn, learn first-hand about policymaking and implementation at the federal level.
The fellowships are operated as part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) mandate to “advance science and serve society.” The aim is to foster evidence-based policy and practice by engaging scientists, social scientists, medical professionals, and engineers from a broad range of disciplines, backgrounds, and career stages to apply their knowledge and analytical skills for well-informed policies, regulations, and programs, and to build leadership capacity for a strong science and technology enterprise that benefits all people.
The 2016-17 class is comprised of 266 fellows sponsored by AAAS and partner societies. Of these, one fellow is serving in the Federal Judicial Center, 35 are serving in Congress, and 230 in the executive branch among 16 agencies or departments including overseas missions.
“We are excited to welcome another new class – the 44th – of fellows who are passionate about connecting science and technology with public policy,” said Cynthia Robinson, director of the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships (STPF) program. “The complex challenges facing society call for civic engagement of scientists and engineers, now perhaps more than ever.”
Since the program’s inception in 1973, over 3,300 fellows have supported congressional offices, executive branch agencies and departments, and the judicial branch seeding virtually every corner of Washington D.C. and beyond with a high caliber of scientific know-how. After the fellowship, some fellows return to their previous positions or institutions. Others remain in policy, working at the federal, state, regional, or international levels. Many pursue new careers in industry and nonprofit organizations. Those who return to academia teach and mentor new generations to understand the policy context for research and the importance of science communication.
“Alumni of the Science & Technology Policy Fellowship program are uniquely equipped with both policy know-how as well as advanced expertise in science and engineering. Fellows go on from the program to contribute to the welfare of the nation and citizens around the world,” said Robinson.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science (www.sciencemag.org) as well as Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances, Science Immunology, and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert! (www.eurekalert.org), the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS. See www.aaas.org.
For more information on AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships, visit www.aaas.org/stpf.