STEM professionals of all career stages, whether well-established or just starting out, have a tremendous opportunity to engage with their communities. From public health to affordable housing, environmental conservation to arts and culture, scientists bring a unique insight valuable to local policy issues both within and outside of the scientific arena. However, the pathway to […]

Michael Hendricks, an assistant professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University, is an advocate for civic engagement who particularly emphasizes integrating STEM into the legislative process. Learn about how he approaches research, teaching, and mentorship to center civic engagement.

Amy Sharma, PhD is the executive director of Science for Georgia, an organization whose mission is to advocate for the responsible use of science in public policy, improve communication between scientists and the public, and increase public engagement with science. She chatted with ESAL about the value of factual scientific support to state legislators and interpersonal relationships between scientists and other community members.

Local governments are increasingly facing STEM-related challenges such as climate resilience, election security, technology for community safety, public assistance programs, and vaccine policies. Advances in technology and engineering present real opportunities to improve these government services, but local policymakers are often ill-equipped to handle them and the associated social, legal, and political questions. Because engineers […]

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.

On May 8th, ESAL and the Ecological Society of America co-hosted a virtual event centered around the urgency of protecting wetlands and their significance in maintaining climate resilience in the future. Learn about the ways the event speakers encourage public engagement.

ESAL chats with Molita Sloan, who has spent much of her career in the engineering and tech sector supporting organizational effectiveness and as a life coach for Women in STEM.

ESAL is excited to welcome Taylor Spicer on board as our first managing director. We sat down with her to learn a bit about her background and new role.

Tyler Pew puts his design and build skills to use rebuilding his hometown. The experienced designer, advocate, and civic enthusiast gained attention for his assistance and leadership in the rebuilding of rural Greenville, CA, following the devastation caused by the Dixie Fire in 2021.