New: Monday, April 4th at 4pm in W201 Millenium Sciences Building: Matt Hourihan, AAAS Director of Budget and Policy Analysis
Join us for a talk by Matt Hourihan, AAAS Director of Budget and Policy Analysis. To see previous presentations by Matt Hourihan, “An Introduction to U.S. Science & Technology Policy” click here. To learn more about AAAS, click here.
New: Thursday, March 31st at 4pm in W201 Millenium Sciences Building: Dr. Jeremy Richardson of the Union of Concerned Scientists
Join us for a talk by Dr. Jeremy Richardson, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, and learn more about the UCS here.
New: Thursday, February 25th, at 4pm in W201 Millenium Sciences Building: Bob Desousa, State Director for PA Senator Pat Toomey (R)
Meet Bob Desousa, and join us for an interesting discussion about science policy in our own state of Pennsylvania. Bob Desousa represents Senator Pat Toomey, who specializes in fiscal matters, the fight against Alzheimer’s, protecting children, helping veterans, honoring police and striving to foster bipartisanship. Desousa has served his career in public service in Pennsylvania. In addition to working for Senator Toomey, he also serves as the State Judge Advocate for the Pennsylvania National Guard. Before working for Senator Toomey, Bob served as a private attorney and businessman in the Harrisburg area. He was a Federal Law Clerk, an Assistant United States Attorney, and served as the Chief Counsel for Pennsylvania’s Department of State. There will be a brief introduction, after which we will get to ask questions and discuss Senator Pat Toomey’s stance on science policy issues. See how politics and science mix on a state level in your own backyard.
New: Monday, February 22nd, at 4pm (Room 301D Life Sciences Building): American Chemical Society Office of Public Policy: Ryan Davison
Join us to hear about how the ACS advocates for better science and better policy, and read more here. Ryan Davison is an Advocacy Manager at ACS, where he manages advocacy and policy development on priority issues including manufacturing, intellectual property, biomedical research, innovation and competitiveness, agency funding, and much more. He spends much of his time meeting lawmakers, attending Congressional hearings, and monitoring bills relevant to the chemical enterprise. Before joining the ACS he worked as a policy Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences, served as Biosecurity Analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, was a post-doctoral Fellow at Georgetown University, and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He holds and Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Psychology from Appalachian State University, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and is in a unique position to be able to personally highlight the importance of innovation and research to members of Congress and their staff.
New: Tuesday and Wednesday, April 12th-13th: NSPG (National Science Policy Group) Congressional Hill Visit Days
Learn all about the current state of affairs between scientists and policy makers in this two day event taking place in Washington, D.C. Read all out our own Stephanie Bora’s experience at last year’s event here: What I learned at the National Science Policy Group’s Congressional Visit Day.
If you’re curious about how things really work, or would like to learn how you can impact the status quo, consider making a visit for this event. For any questions, contact us at PennStateCSA@gmail.com.
New: Thursday, January 21st, at 4pm in W-201 Millenium Sciences Building: Talk with Dr. Maureen Mulvihill, co-founder of Actuated Medical
Dr. Mulvihill (biography here) will be speaking about leading her company from ideas to commercial products, and her experience with government regulations. Dr. Mulvihill received her Ph.D. from Penn State in Materials Science and Engineering, with a focus in piezoelectric actuator and transducer applications. Prior to founding her own company, Dr. Mulvihill garnered experience from several small technology firms developing piezoelectric motors, adaptive optics and medical devices. She has been a Finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia region, twice. In addition, Dr. Mulvihill has also been recognized by PA Business Central as “One of the Top 100 Business People in Central Pennsylvania” several times. She is a 2015 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business National Scholar.
Please RVSP to PennStateCSA@gmail.com so that we can accommodate refreshments and seating for everyone.
Friday, January 15th, at 1pm: Webinar with Dr. Michael Mann, Communicating Science Through Social Media
Join us for a webinar with our own faculty advisor Dr. Mike Mann, while he discusses strategies for using social media to effectively communicate science.
How to join the webinar: Online – https://goo.gl/7T8n0H or Phone – 323-920-0091 PIN: 196 6264#
Wednesday, December 2nd: Talk to a PSU Alum About the World Outside of Academia (and get snacks!)
On Wednesday, December 2nd at 4pm in Millennium Science Complex Room W-201, CMIID and the Center for Science Advocacy are co-sponsoring a Skype talk plus Q&A with Dr. Alexia Karanikas, a former graduate student of Penn State. She is currently a lead scientist/associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm that provides services in management, technology, security, and defense to both civilian and government contractors (http://www.boozallen.com/). Alexia will be sharing her experiences post-graduate school and about working for a defense contractor, and answering lots of questions.
Monday, October 26th: Penn State Lobbyist John Latini
On October 26th at 4pm, in W201 Millennium Sciences Building, Penn State Lobbyist John Latini will be giving a talk and answering questions about legislation and research at Penn State. He brings us more than 6 years of experience in Capitol Hill, so come join us for an interesting talk about legislative processes and their unique impact on Penn State research, and more. Read his bio here: http://govt.psu.edu/latinibio
Monday, October 5th: Annual Elections!
On Monday, Oct. 5th at 6pm, in room 308 Life Sciences Building, we will be holding annual elections for club officers. Our club president says it best: “The best way for the CSA to serve grad students is to get input from grad students. So please, please attend the election! Since forming last year, we’ve had talks from a lobbyist, climate scientist, and our House Representative: I think we can do even more with greater participation in the decision making aspects of the group!”
Please help us make sure this club keeps gaining momentum and impact, come vote for new officers!
Wednesday, August 12th – Bill Pickles Tap Room (‘Pickles’) Happy Hour! The Penn State CSA and the CMIID club will be there at 5/5:30pm, to be social and maybe discuss some of the things we would all like to see happen over the next year. Invite friends and coworkers, we hope to see everyone there!
Wednesday, May 27th – Career Exposure Seminar – Science Policy at Work: Food, Nutrition, and Law. The Center for Science Advocacy and MCIBS is hosting Dr. Sheila Fleischhacker, who is a Senior Public Health and Science Policy Advisor at the NIH. She was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2007, and received her PhD from Penn State in Integrative Biosciences/Nutritional Sciences in 2004. More info on her career can be found at huck.psu.edu/content/events/upcoming/careerexposure. If you want to learn more about career in law, consulting, and/or science policy, or are curious about working for government agencies like the NIH, come meet with Dr. Fleischhaker on May 27th, 3.30-5pm in 301D Life Sciences! Please RSVP to pennstatecsa@gmail.com, coffee/tea and snacks will be provided.
Monday, May 18th – Q&A Session with Dr. Mike Mann: A scientist’s perspective on Capitol Hill, communicating with policy makers, and science policy. Dr. Mann will start by discussing his experience, as a scientist, with policy makers. Topics for discussion include hurdles scientists face in communicating with policy makers, and what scientists can do to contribute to reasonable science policy. This meeting is a Q&A so questions are encouraged! Dr. Mann is a Distinguished Professor of Meteorology at Penn State, was a Lead Author on the Climate Variability and Change section of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2001, and has authored over 180 peer-reviewed articles and two books. More information on Dr. Mann can be found here. This event will be held in W203 Millennium Sciences Complex from 4-5pm; coffee and cookies will be provided. If you are interested in attending this Q&A, please RSVP to pennstatecsa@gmail.com.
All meetings are open to anyone who might be interested in joining, or is just curious. If you would like to attend, you can send an email to Club President Stephanie Bora (sub224@psu.edu), or you can just show up. Events are open to members, because advance notice and possibly training is required for most events.
Seminar hosted by GWIS (cookies and coffee and interesting talks!) on Friday, April 24, 1:30pm, in 217 Forest Resources Building:
Dr. Lisa Park-Boush will be talking about the NSF grant writing process, what makes a good and bad grant, and the science policy nexus and science funding in DC.
Dr. Lisa Park-Bousch is a Professor of Geography and the Director of the Center for Integrative Geosciences at the University of Connecticut, with experience at the National Science Foundation. Her research investigates climatological and anthropogenically-driven environmental change and biological responses. For the past ten years, Dr. Park-Boush and her colleagues have reconstructed high-resolution records of hurricanes, climate, anthropogenic driven environmental change, and sea level rise in the Bahamas.
UPDATE: general meeting will be in 423 Life Sciences, not 326.
General Meeting: Thursday April 23, 4:30pm, in 423 Life Sciences Building.
- Agenda: the new #WeWillNotGiveUp campaign, political events attended by our very own members, May events, and general club business.
This is not a club meeting, but this seminar is hosted by none other than our faculty advisor, Michael Mann. I hope to see everyone there!
“How Likely Was the 2014 Global Temperature Record?”
Wednesday, February 18th at 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., in 529 Walker Building
Science Policy 101 Seminar: Monday Jan. 19th, 3:30pm, in W201 Millenium Science Building. Snacks will be provided, so please RSVP to PennStateCSA@gmail.com if you would like to attend, just so we can get enough food for everyone!
- Amanda Wintersteen from the PSU Office of Governmental Affairs will be talking about her job securing research funding for our university, dealing with federal policy makers, and how policy is decided. This is a great opportunity to learn about how policy that affects our livelihoods and scientific progress is made, and how we ourselves can change it. No prior knowledge or experience is necessary, please come and satisfy your curiosity!
General Meeting: Tuesday Dec. 16th, 5pm, in 326 Life Sciences Building.
- Agenda: General Club business, Secretary elections, and a journal-club style meeting with 1 or more informal presentations about a topic related to science policy. If you might like to present, please contact Stephanie Bora (sub224@psu.edu) by Wednesday, Dec. 10th so she can plan the meeting.