ESAL chats with Karen Gardner, economist, researcher, and policy analyst for better healthy retail public health policy.

ESAL hosted a panel discussion titled “Evidence-Driven Solutions to the Opioid Epidemic”.  The panelists provided a deeply informative and multi-faceted view of one of the most serious public health challenges in the United States.

ESAL spoke with Christine Task, a senior research scientist at Knexus Research Corporation and contracted technical lead of the Collaborative Research Cycle (CRC) hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Privacy Engineering Program. Learn more about how Christine is mobilizing the privacy research community to solve pressing problems facing the federal government.

Cynthia Prieto-Diaz, a biomedical engineer by training, actively contributes to scientific discourse by volunteering, engaging with city governments, and advocating for STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) involvement and consideration in local governance.Prieto-Diaz currently holds a position on the leadership team for 500 Women Scientists and serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Cal Poly Pomona-Latin Alumni Network.

The debate around abortion is informed by science, medicine, and public health, as well as ethics. Many people with STEM backgrounds feel compelled to get involved. One way to do this is to have critical conversations with your friends, family, and other members of your community. We hope that the information in this post can serve as a guide for anyone looking to engage in this important policy discussion.

Information technology PhD student Xu Han recalls his experience building a data processing pipeline for analyzing data from the Office of Recovery Services at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and to better serve the people of Virginia.

Translational biology PhD candidate Frankie Edwards recalls his experience with analyzing data to find mobile service gaps in the Commonwealth of Virginia and how his work contributed to redesigning crisis services.

ESAL had the opportunity to speak with Meridith Perkins, current executive director of nonprofit Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, about canopy coverage in underserved communities and the importance of environmental education. Learn more about how Meridith brings empowers the local community with skills and opportunities to combat climate change in their own backyard.

Integrative life sciences PhD candidate Adele Balmer shares her experience with policymaking in Virginia and how the results from a mathematical model she built has inspired her to work in science policy after graduation.