by Drs. Chris Wielga and Isabel Warner
The MOST team headed to Boston in the first week of August to attend the National Conference of State Legislators Summit. The summit celebrated the 50th anniversary of NCSL and was the largest gathering of state legislators in American history.
Drs. Isabel Warner and Chris Wielga attended sessions and connected with experts on a plethora of policy topics, including transportation, state budgets, healthcare, public safety, housing, communication, higher education, and financial fraud. Sessions drew on the knowledge of both lawmakers, policy experts, and field practitioners, highlighting the importance of politics and policy in tackling these issues.
In addition, the team connected with others across the science policy fellowship ecosystem. Dr. Warner attended a convening of state policy fellowship leaders to share knowledge and experience to bolster the science policy training pipeline and presence of scientists and technologists in state governments. She also presented on MOST’s impact in Missouri alongside Colorado Science and Technology Policy Fellowship’s Executive Director Kristan Uhlenbrock, Speaker of the West Virginia House of Representatives Roger Hanshaw, and Connect Senator James Maroney in a panel moderated by the California Council on Science and Technology’s Puneet Bhullar. That evening, Fellows and alumni from programs across the country met to network and discuss their experiences in their respective science policy fellowships.
From Dr. Chris Wielga, Elections and Human Services Legislative Policy Fellow
“I really enjoyed my first NCSL conference. It was heartening to see legislators and staff from all the states coming together to learn about public policies. I particularly enjoyed sessions on housing, transportation, and public safety. It was nice to attend a panel on the opioid crisis with some good news: Dr. Allison Arwady from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presented on how annual opioid deaths have dropped from around 80,000 in 2020 to 55,000 in 2024. It was also fun to hear about other science policy programs, and learn their different approaches and structures, as well as meeting others in the science policy community and hearing about their experiences.”