CCST Founding Champions Pen PNAS Piece on “How to Bring Science and Technology Expertise to State Governments”

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and CCST are helping other U.S. states establish their own state-level science policy fellowships, 10 years after adapting the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship program into the CCST Science & Technology Policy Fellowship program for California. Much of this effort has been informed by the fundamental lessons learned from establishing the CCST Science Fellows program in Sacramento — lessons that were recounted in a newly published submission to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Penned by some of the fellowship program’s founding champions — including CCST Board Member and renowned UCSF scholar Bruce Alberts — the PNAS piece provides a glimpse into the origins and building blocks of the CCST Science Fellows program. These lessons are currently being shared with teams in Alaska, Connecticut, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Idaho, Washington, and Colorado, all of whom were recipients of the State Fellowships Planning Grant funded by the Moore Foundation and administered by CCST in 2017.

The nine teams recently convened in Austin, Texas, during the AAAS Annual Meeting to discuss their respective progress and to form next steps, as well as hearing updates from independent efforts such as the newly announced Missouri Science & Technology Policy Fellowship.

Read the PNAS article here, and follow the State Fellowships Planning Grant effort here. Follow the Missouri Science Fellows program progress at @MOSTPolFellows.

Bruce Alberts, Barry D. Gold, Lora Lee Martin and Mary E. Maxon. How to Bring Science and Technology Expertise to State Governments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Feb 2018, 115 (9) 1952-1955; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1800543115

The CCST Science & Technology Policy Fellowship trains scientific thinkers to be policy-savvy, while helping equip California’s lawmakers with science-savvy staff. Follow updates from the CCST Science Fellows on Facebook at facebook.com/ccstfellows and on Twitter @CCSTFellows. Explore the CCST Science & Technology Policy Fellowship here.

The California Council on Science and Technology is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established via the California State Legislature in 1988. CCST engages leading experts in science and technology to advise state policymakers ― ensuring that California policy is strengthened and informed by scientific knowledge, research, and innovation. Find CCST on Facebook at facebook.com/ccstorg, on Twitter @CCSTorg, and on LinkedIn. Discover how CCST makes California’s policies stronger with science at www.ccst.us. Celebrate the 30th anniversary of CCST all year long by following #CCST30th on Twitter.