TEACHING STUDENTS TO SHAPE NATIONAL SCIENCE POLICY

National policy debates increasingly involve a science dimension, yet few scientists are employed as congressional, administration or judicial staff. Scientists who can make science relevant to these debates can make significant contributions to national policy. Scientists who are unaware of the differences between research and policy-making or who fail to understand the importance of relationships, process and politics in policy-making miss important opportunities to influence how national institutions deal with issues that have a science component. There are programs that help train scientists to effectively participate in federal policy development, such as the AAAS Science and Technology Fellowships. Most programs require a post-graduate degree, and few scientists will ever be able to participate. Academic institutions can help prepare more scientists to engage in the public policy arena by providing coursework that integrates science and policy. This coursework should include: examination of the institutions and processes that shape laws and administrative policy and the interplay of judicial proceedings on both; enhancing proficiency in communication; study of methods and ethics of advocacy; and direct engagement with policy-makers in supervised settings. Most importantly, students must appreciate that science seeks answers, and policy-making seeks solutions; that where science is based on empirical evidence, policy derives from compromise between competing interests. Through the Georgetown University Program on Science in the Public Interest , we teach a class called “Shaping National Science Policy,” in which science majors identify a gap in science policy, develop a legislative solution, and lobby Congress to turn their solution into law. The students contribute the science, and we provide the context for policy-making by bringing in politicians, lobbyists, administration officials, reporters, polling and campaign experts, and our own personal experience as scientists working in the policy arena. The students not only gain experience that will allow them to effectively influence the legislative process; some of them actually contribute to science policy signed into law by the president.