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CYNTHIA ROBINSON: The program started forty years ago, and the
mission and mandate has not changed. It's about public
service and about professional development. Many of the issues,
themselves, haven't changed. But I would say that since the world
has become more globalized, more interconnected that the
complexity of the challenges and the issues that Congress and,
therefore, staff and the people who support them are dealing
with have created a whole new dynamic. One of the exciting
aspects of the program, and one of the most critical aspects of
the program, is that Fellows are embedded in the offices where
they're assigned for the year. They have the opportunity, of
course, from that to have a great experiential education.
But more importantly, they're at the table when policy
discussions are happening and really in the trenches when
offices need to deal with emerging issues or crises that
are happening both in the United States and around the world. So,
for example, Fellows have had an opportunity to work on climate
change, adaptation and mitigation and be interacting
with stakeholders in small island nations dealing with sea
level rise. They've dealt with piracy in the Indian Ocean.
Thinking about the ways that we can use new knowledge and
understanding of neuroscience and social sciences to address
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Responding to food safety
recalls and outbreaks that can lead to illness and even death
and thinking more strategically about how regulations for food
safety can help avoid those situations in the future.
They've been involved in issues that have to do with other broad
health care, environment, defense. They have a chance to
respond to issues that emerge, whether it's thinking
strategically about how the United States government might
invest in emerging technologies, such as nanotechnology, or
thinking about how we can improve STEM education at the
K-12 level with the goal to have better innovation in our
country. Or focusing on issues to expand diversity of those who
are engaged in STEM and better serving underrepresented
populations. Fellows, even from the very first class, continue
to engage at the intersection of science and policy. They are
very active in that way. We say that we like to create
policy-savvy scientists and engineers out of this program.
And they take that knowledge with them no matter where they
go. I think an outcome beyond being policy-savvy scientists
and engineers is also the fact that this program creates much
more influential and knowledgeable citizens in
general. Most Americans don't have the opportunity to know how
science can be applied or how government even operates. And
the individuals who are involved in this program are able to take
that on to whatever they do in the future and really help make
a difference in understanding how interdisciplinary
problem-solving can really help improve lives, not only in the
United States but around the world.
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