CCST Newsroom

The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) begins its 26th year with the addition of four new Council members, bringing new perspective and expertise from academia, the federal research lab, and the private high-tech sector. CCST is an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to providing California with sound analyses and reports on science and technology […]

  The fifth class of the California Science and Technology Policy Fellowship Program has begun work in Sacramento, and the program is planning for the next five years. “We are very proud of the legacy this program is building,” said CCST Executive Director Susan Hackwood. “The Science and Technology Policy Fellows are a resource unique […]

The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is beginning 2014 with new leadership in both the Board and Council. Effective on January 1, Charles F. Kennel, distinguished professor of Atmospheric Science at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, became CCST Board Chair, and Corey Goodman, managing partner and co-founder of venBio, became Council Chair. “CCST is […]

At the request of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is conducting an independent scientific review of oil and gas development technologies in California. On Thursday, January 16th at 9am PST, CCST will host a public webinar (instructions for joining the webinar are below). During the webinar, […]

Effective this month, the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) has a new deputy director. Dr. Amber Mace, associate director of the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy, will bring her experience and expertise leading effective science-policy organizations to the CCST team. In addition to providing strategic advice to the […]

The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) has released the first report in a new series which analyzes how California can effectively construct a policy framework to help the state meet its ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals over the coming years. The California’s Energy Future – Policy (CEF-P) project follows on CCST’s landmark […]

The California Legislature has unanimously approved a resolution honoring the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) for its first 25 years of service to California. Assembly Concurrent Resolution 75 (ACR 75) honors CCST for having “successfully represented California’s science and technology professions at the highest level and providing independent and objective analyses to the […]

Cal TAC brought together education leaders from around California last week to discuss what current research says about the effect of digital teaching and learning platforms, tools, programs and resources. “The role of information technology has shifted from that of an enabler to that of a transforming culture,” said keynote speaker CCST Senior Fellow Mohammad […]

Art Chester has years of experience both as a research scientist and as a manager in a major private research facility. His experience in both the research and research management communities has helped shape an understanding of the importance of bridging the communications gap between specialists and the general community. Chester is using this experience […]

The June CCST Council meeting focused on the impact that China’s quest to become a global science, technology and innovation leader will have on California, and the global community as a whole. The dinner speaker, Tai Ming Cheung, is the director of the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) at UC San Diego. IGCC […]

CCST has released the seventh and final report in its California’s Energy Future (CEF) project, “California’s Energy Future: The Potential for Biofuels“. The CEF project seeks ways the State could meet the mandated reductions of the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, exploring possible energy strategies for California through in-depth […]

CCST Council Member Katherine Yelick has been honored by the Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Council on Women, which has named her the 2013-2014 Athena Lecturer. The Athena Lecturer award celebrates women researchers who have made fundamental contributions to computer science. Yelick, a Professor of Electrical Engineering Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley and also the […]

CCST Council Member Sung-Mo “Steve” Kang has been appointed the new president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea’s leading technology school. Kang’s four-year term is scheduled to begin on February 23. “I did not expect this development,” said Kang. “KAIST is facing some organizational challenges, and there was a need […]

A delegation from the California Teacher Advisory Council (Cal TAC) spent three days in Washington, D.C. last week, introducing Cal TAC as an organization dedicated to strengthening STEM teaching and learning throughout California, and briefing Senate staff and Congressional members about their current work on digitally enhanced education. The delegation included Cal TAC Chair Brian […]

The California Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program has placed its fourth consecutive group of fellows in the California state legislature, continuing to build on a growing legacy of making S&T expertise available to lawmakers in a way most states do not have. Each year, the program places ten professional scientists in yearlong appointments in […]

CCST has released the sixth publication in its California’s Energy Future (CEF) project, “California’s Energy Future: Building and Industrial Efficiency“. The CEF project focuses on exploring possibilities for California’s energy strategy through the coming decades, seeking ways the State could meet the mandated reductions of the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels […]

A new summary report has been released detailing the proceedings of a June 2012 summit on integrating digital media into teacher preparation in California. (Click here for the report.) The summit, convened by the California Teacher Advisory Council (Cal TAC), brought together science and math teachers, university faculty, philanthropists, and technical experts to develop a strategy […]

A successful culture of innovation depends as much on enabling entrepreneurship as on the ideas themselves, according to CCST Council Member Atul Butte, who spoke at the October Council meeting. Butte, MD, PhD, an associate professor and chief of systems medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University, runs a laboratory which focuses on […]

CCST has released the next report in the California’s Energy Future (CEF) series, which focuses on exploring possibilities for California’s energy strategy through the year 2050. Portraits of Energy Systems for Meeting Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets examines a variety of scenarios for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. “We believe that the CEF energy system portraits report […]

CCST is seeking input from water experts on the future of California’s water plans. “Science and Technology for California’s Water Future” is a yearlong project to determine how innovations in science and technology can be used to improve California’s integrated water management. Through the use of an on-line survey CCST is working to identify innovative technology […]

The 2011-2012 group of California Science and Technology Policy Fellows has received acknowledgments from both the Assembly and the Senate, marking the program’s third year of success. “As policy makers, our most urgent priority is to create the kind of twenty-first century jobs that will restore health to California’s economy,” said Speaker of the Assembly […]