Page 31 - Acoustics Today Spring 2011

Fig. 1. The 2009-2010 AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship class. Photo by Matt Spangler.
purposes: it is a chance for Fellows to get to know each other and their new surroundings in Washington (Figure 1); it pro- vides a short but intense overview of the federal government and its institutions; and it gives new Fellows an opportunity to learn what to expect during the coming year.
One of the major topics covered during orientation is the contrasting (and often conflicting) cultures of the science and policy realms. I have had the pleasure of taking part in orientation twice, first as a Congressional Fellow, and later as a Diplomacy, Security, and Development Fellow. I found that my appreciation for the wisdom contained in these sessions grew tremendously after my intervening Congressional expe- rience. As the orientation speakers emphasized, scientists and policy-makers come from fundamentally different worlds. They have different values, they use different tools, and they describe their worlds using very different languages. One phrase that stuck with me is that scientists are used to solving problems, while policy-makers must spend their time resolving issues. The organization and function of some bureaucratic structures may seem maddeningly inefficient and incomprehensible from an engineer’s perspective, but they can become understandable when viewed through the lens of political consideration.
Dr. Stephen Nelson, Senior Advisor on Science and Technology Policy at AAAS, told us that to operate effective- ly in this new environment, scientists need to appreciate and adapt to it. They need to empathize with the policy-makers, who must make decisions in a low-information environment, in which the goals are often unclear and the policy tools poorly understood. At the same time, Dr. Nelson urged sci- entists to not just deliver more and better information to pol- icy officials and decision-makers, but to work to change the very nature of decision-making. Dr. Nelson also cautioned us to be patient with our new offices and with ourselves, and to have realistic expectations.
Another memorable seminar during orientation for the Congressional Fellows was a morning that we spent at the
Library of Congress with staff from the Congressional Research Service. There, Judy Schneider, who helped write the book on how Congress works,19 drilled into our minds that politics, procedure, and policy—in that order—deter- mine actions in Congress. This lesson can be difficult to learn, especially for scientists. It may not make seemingly irrational decisions less frustrating, but keeping “politics, procedure, policy” in mind when reading about events in Washington at least makes things seem more comprehensi- ble.
Life on the Hill
After AAAS orientation, Executive Branch Fellows go to their offices for a short agency-specific orientation, and then begin work. Congressional Fellows must first find placement in a Congressional office, which is another learning experi- ence that prepares them for their year on Capitol Hill. At the beginning of placement, the Fellows receive a list of offices that are interested in having a Fellow (for the 2009-2010 class, the list included more than 70 placement opportunities), and those offices receive a list of the Fellows and their policy interests (there were 32 Fellows in the 2009-2010 class). Fellows can place in a personal office or a committee, and can work in either the “House” (the House of Representatives) or the Senate. Placement can be a chaotic and intense experi- ence, but it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet and talk policy with Congressional staff from a wide range of political backgrounds. It is also ideal practice for the next year; the placement process requires lots of preparation, quick decision-making with incomplete information, and above all, a clear sense of your own personality and priorities. I decided to interview with both personal and committee offices on both the House and Senate side.
Over the summer I did some reading on various mem- bers of Congress and, was impressed by Senator Jeff Bingaman’s work in areas that were of great interest me, including education, health care, energy, and science policy. I
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