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.

“Policy entrepreneurs” often fly under the radar, developing policy ideas to solve problems over decades and surfacing with solutions at just the right moment. Researchers, engineers, consumer advocates, clinicians, civil servants, or community organizers—policy entrepreneurs are innovators who pull together ideas and supporters to accomplish what they could not on their own: a system for […]

Local Fish & Wildlife Commission member Kendra Zamzow shares how her care for the local habitat led her to testify to the National Marine Fisheries Service about double fishing time.

ESAL chatted with Cindy Hua, board member of Downwinders at Risk and chair of the Particulate Matter Education Committee, about her work on empowering residents to engage with the civic process and her journey into local activism.

Learn more about Jacqui Treiger's work as campaign manager for climate and transportation at OEC to further initiatives that reduce climate pollution, increase community resilience, and build a transportation system that works for everyone.

In a recent conversation with ESAL, Kavin Manickaraj, chief data scientist at Greenlink Analytics, reflected on how his concern for the well-being of the local community and effects of climate change informs his science and career path. Learn more about how Kavin wants to bridge the gap between science and political action.

Julie Palakovich Carr is the only biologist with an advanced degree in the Maryland General Assembly, where she has been a representative since 2019. Learn more about the high-impact role of an elected official and the advantages that a scientific background affords policy makers.

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.

As local governments confront complex policy challenges, the need for data-based solutions is essential. However, data is often incomplete, and successfully using the data that is available can be  administratively challenging for local policymakers who are ill-equipped to fully leverage the information at their fingertips. This creates a valuable opportunity for engineers and other STEM […]