This year, four states will kick off state-level, non-partisan science and technology policy fellowship programs – Idaho, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia. Science and technology policy fellowship (STPF) programs have long been an entry point for scientists seeking science policy careers, primarily in Washington, DC through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) … Continue reading Four states launch science policy fellowship programs in 2020

Rachel K. Owen, MOST Policy Initiative Co-Founder and Director We are officially less than two months away from welcoming our first class of Missouri Science & Technology (MOST) Policy Fellows to Jefferson City. Through the hustle and bustle of making the final arrangements for our fellows, I’ve also spent some time reflecting on the past … Continue reading Looking Back: A Brief History of the MOST Policy Fellows Program

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (June 29, 2020) – Five post-doctoral fellows have been selected to serve as independent science advisors to the Missouri General Assembly. The fellowship program is coordinated by MOST Policy Initiative at the University of Missouri Graduate School. Fellows will cover health, agriculture, education, transportation, and public safety policy topics for the 101st … Continue reading Announcing the inaugural class of MOST Policy Fellows

While the 2020 Missouri legislative session was anything but normal, several pieces of legislation were introduced, amended, and passed related to science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM). Particularly, legislators were forced to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and work with public health experts to support communities during the outbreak and practice safety measures at the … Continue reading 2020 Missouri Legislative Session: STEMM Recap

Policy briefs, memos, white papers, leave-behinds, 1-pagers.. all of these terms refer to specific ways to communicate written information in policy settings. However, when we set out to identify the best way to communicate science to state policymakers, traditional written outputs seemed to fall short in meeting our goals. Based on feedback from policymakers, we … Continue reading Using ‘science notes’ to share timely, relevant science with policymakers