Serve your community. As a volunteer, community leader, elected representative, or government staff, you can bring your science-informed perspective to local decision-making. Effective service requires relationship-building and empathy for your neighbors.
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.
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.
ESAL chats with Brandie Dessauer, the manager of an engineering team within Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Her unique upbringing as a first-generation college graduate has had a lasting impact on her professional career. Learn more about how she provides STEM opportunities designed to bridge the educational divide.
Psychology PhD candidate Janey Dike shares her interest in trauma-informed, community-based supports and how it has motivated her goal to bridge science and policy.
Environmental science and policy PhD student Chelsea Gray discusses her experience as a science advisor and the up-close interaction between law and science-based solutions.
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.
ESAL sat down to chat with Liz Snyder, a PhD turned co-founder turned Alaska state representative. Snyder uses her interest in environmental public health to lead initiatives that fortify Alaska's food systems at the state level. Snyder discusses how her education has impacted her long-term goals and career choices as well as her current projects.
ESAL interviewed Louis Abramson, an astrophysicist and current Carnegie Fellow in Astronomy at the Carnegie Observatories. He helps tackle problems related to homelessness and food relief in Los Angeles, as an elected member of the Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council.
