Editorial Board

The JSPG editorial board

JSPG's editorial board is comprised of early career researchers who are rising stars in the field and share JSPG's mission of empowering students and early career researchers to substantively engage in the policy debate through research and writing.

Follow JSPG on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. Subscribe to our newsletter.

Editor-In-Chief

Rosie Dutt is a PhD student in the Bioimaging Science program at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on developing advanced neuroimaging analysis techniques in the context of mental health conditions and identifying unique markers of psychiatric disorders. Rosie is particularly interested in how policy can support the implementation of such findings, and has become involved with numerous policy organizations on a national level here in the states.

Before moving to the US, Rosie graduated from St George’s University of London with a BSc(Hons) in Biomedical Sciences, specializing in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience. Since then, she has completed a MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at Durham University and an MRes in Bioimaging Science from Imperial College London. Alongside her academics, Rosie is heavily involved with Science communication, editing and journalism efforts, with her work featured in both the Times and Sunday Times Newspaper, as well as the BBC. She also has an interest in developing tools to make Science more accessible to the general public, and is regularly invited to give talks, workshops and lectures throughout the country.

Assistant Editor-In-Chief, Standard Editions

Ben Wolfson is a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow supporting the Basic Research Office in the Department of Defense. Ben is particularly interested in scientific freedom and policies that promote scientific innovation and the translation of basic science into novel technologies to better society. He was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Cancer Institute researching cancer immunotherapy and the development of novel therapeutic strategies combining standard-of-care with immuno-oncology agents. During his Postdoc he also ran and edited the NIH Fellows Science Policy Discussion Group blog. Ben earned his PhD in Molecular Medicine with a focus in Cancer Biology from the University of Maryland Baltimore where his thesis focused on the mechanisms by which obesity promotes the development and progression of breast cancer.

Assistant Editor-In-Chief, Special Editions

Andy Sanchez is a Mexican American doctoral candidate in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. A CBE Civic Engagement Fellow, he holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M and an MFA in Creative Writing from NYU. His research centers on developing a novel sensor for Lyme disease, addressing inefficiencies that have produced a culture of distrust between Lyme patients and the medical community. Lyme disease encompasses a complex intersection of medical, environmental, and social interactions that repeatedly demonstrate the need for empathetic science communication, and Andy is hopeful his work can provide some assistance. In addition to his research, he is an advocate for rethinking engineering ethics education. To that end, he's published articles on how to address bias in AI; he co-instructed the 2019 Science Policy Bootcamp, mentoring student groups on Op-Eds, technical reports, and advocacy plans; and he was an organizer for the 2018 ComSciCon-NY science communication conference. He was formerly Interviews Editor for Washington Square Review and an Editorial Assistant at Callaloo. He now serves as the President of Cornell's science policy student group, Advancing Science and Policy, and is co-leading an initiative to address vaccine hesitancy in his community. He is passionate about using science as one tool of many to advocate for social justice.

New Associate Editors (2022)

Dr. Karen Arcos is a University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). Karen earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience and an emphasis in Chicano/Latino Studies from the University of California, Irvine, along with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Spanish minor from the University of Southern California. Karen has accomplished feats such as earning the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and is totally blind.

Dr. Christopher Baryiames is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Virginia. He received his doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, where he served on the Dean's Office Graduate Council and in the Graduate Student Assembly. Currently, Christopher is studying the forces that govern self-assembly in cells. His policy interests include science diplomacy, STEM education, and energy policy. In his free time, Christopher enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and photography.

Leslie Brooks is a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow supporting the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance at USAID. She is interested in science communication and diplomacy that takes into account the lived experience of those being affected by policy decisions. As part of her Fellowship, she is also involved in activities working to engage youth and the public in science policy issues, mentoring young professionals, and community building work. Prior to becoming a Fellow, she was a full-time clinical veterinarian and dedicated much of her time volunteering in her community using a One Health approach to advance both animal and human health. She has also been a freelance writer and podcaster for a variety of animal health online platforms, and served on multiple non-profit boards. She earned her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and Master in Public Health from the University of Tennessee.

Mary Jialu Chen is a doctoral candidate in the department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich, where she studies cell-surface interactions and manufacturing process design for a novel, affordable polymeric heart valve. Mary is especially interested in supporting translational research, technology transfer, and evidence-based decision making. She currently serves as Vice-President of Telejob, an entrepreneurial-driven non-profit organization for scientific staff at ETH Zurich and promotes issues on the science-policy interface with Science & Policy Exchange. Throughout her academic career, Mary has also served as a director of the Waterloo Nanotechnology Conference and advocated for graduate students as a board member of her departmental association. Mary obtained both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Nanotechnology Engineering from the University of Waterloo, while holding the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology Nanofellowship, an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and the University of Waterloo President’s Graduate Scholarship.

Christina Del Greco is a PhD candidate in Genetics and Genomics at the University of Michigan Medical School. Her current research is on rare disease caused by defects in the mitochondria's ability to make essential proteins. Christina has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame, where she also completed a senior thesis on issues surrounding genetic data privacy through her minor in Science, Technology, and Values. At Michigan, Christina is a member of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy graduate certificate program, and she is involved with on-campus science policy and science communication organizations. Outside of Michigan, Christina is also involved with the American Society of Human Genetics where she writes for the trainee newsletter, "The Nascent Transcript," and is also completing the Advocacy Certificate for Human Genetics and Genomics Trainees. Her main policy interests are in genetic privacy issues, regulation of biomedical innovations, and health policy.

Sarah Dewey is a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow supporting the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy. She is particularly interested in issues of international science cooperation and Earth's climate, and in policies promoting basic science research and marine environmental management. Before starting her placement at the Department of Energy, Sarah held a postdoctoral fellowship in the Arctic Initiative of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. There she worked on issues of regional ocean management and led a short graduate course on geospatial data, mapping, and science communication. Sarah earned her MS and PhD in Oceanography from the University of Washington, where she studied the Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Gyre air-ice-ocean physical system. As part of her graduate program she was an active participant in fieldwork, where collaborating with multiple Arctic stakeholders inspired her to pursue a career in science policy.

Maya Evanitsky is a PhD candidate in the University Program in Genetics and Genomics at Duke University. Her research in the Di Talia lab uses live imaging and computational modeling to investigate the molecular mechanisms that regulate skin appendage development and patterning in zebrafish. Prior to Duke, she spent time at the NIH as a post-baccalaureate fellow and received a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State University. During her time at Duke, she has taken part in efforts dedicated to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. She served as the president of DukeOUT, a student group that brings together the LGBT+ community among the various graduate and professional schools at Duke. As the Director of Academic Programming for the Duke Graduate and Professional Student Government, she advocated for students and worked with university staff to improve diversity initiatives. She is also a member of NSPN and serves on the Public Engagement and Communication and Science Advocacy committees.

Jen Grauer is a Ph.D. student in Natural Resources at Cornell University, where she studies ecological community dynamics. Her research focuses on moose in the Adirondack Park of New York State and the population-level effects of their internal and external parasites. Before coming to Cornell, Jen worked as a biologist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission studying birds and managing grants for threatened and endangered species. She completed her M.S. in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her B.S. in Zoology at the University of Vermont. Her understanding of the importance of science policy was first fostered through an internship with The Wildlife Society, where she helped write news briefs, craft policy statements, and facilitate meetings between scientists and government representatives. Since then, she has actively engaged in science outreach and communication to help foster engagement with and appreciation for the natural world.

James Karabin is a PhD student in sociology at University of California, Santa Cruz. His interests surround the politics of health knowledge, expertise, and data, transformative justice, and how these intersect with health and biomedical science policies. In doing so, he hopes to raise questions as to who gets to do science policy and the motivations of science policy, with the aim of working towards centering justice and equity in issues of science and science policy. Prior to starting his PhD, he was a Science Policy Fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute, where he conducted policy analysis on range of topics for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and federal R&D agencies. He earned a B.S. in sociology and B.S. in medical microbiology from Arizona State University.

Diane Karloff is a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry at Emory University. She grew up in Princeton, NJ and obtained her bachelor’s in chemistry at Duke University before moving to Atlanta, where she leverages RNA:small molecule interactions to build new chemical biology tools. Her work in the Heemstra lab focuses on constructing less cumbersome systems to image RNA localization in live cells as well as developing methods to identify and effectually target therapeutically relevant RNAs using small molecule drugs. Diane is also passionate about making STEM an inclusive training environment for students of all origins and backgrounds. She served for three years as an executive board member of Emory’s NOBCChE chapter and also as a liaison to her department, advocating for unmet student needs through student:faculty partnerships. Diane is interested in utilizing her scientific training within the context of US policy to promote evidence-based decision-making.

Piyush Kumar is a postdoctoral fellow at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health where he works to elucidate biomarkers for early and prenatal environmental exposures. He specializes in biomedical applications of spectroscopic techniques for disease diagnosis, environmental exposure detection, and understanding implications of such exposures on human health. He obtained his PhD in noninvasive diagnosis of oral cancers from Tata Memorial Centre at Mumbai (India) and his Masters in Genetics from University of Delhi.

Joseph T. Long is a doctoral candidate in Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University studying how healthy and diseased human cells respond to their physical environment using a combination of genomic approaches, cell manipulation tools, and molecular engineering. Supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, his research aims to gain insights into the molecular mechanisms behind neuromuscular disorders. With roots in science outreach and education, Joseph is a community organizer at Cornell working in organizations such as Advancing Science and Policy, ComSciCon-NY, and others to promote science communication and policy expertise among early career researchers. His policy interests focus on ethical and inclusive technology innovation. He has advocated at the federal level for investment in the bioeconomy and given lectures on the ethics, regulation, and societal impact of CRISPR-based genetic engineering. He also previously worked with the Washington State Academy of Sciences on projects related to workforce development and emerging technologies in the science policy landscape. He earned a B.S. in Bioengineering from Oregon State University and M.S. from Cornell University.

Bailey McCarthy Riley is a Knauss Fellow in the House of Representative’s Science Space and Technology subcommittee on Environment. Within the subcommittee, she works on a broad variety of issues from improved weather satellites to environmental resiliency. Bailey is a doctoral candidate at Wayne State University in analytical chemistry, where her research focuses on the design and development of microfluidic digital bioassays for improved disease diagnostics. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Saginaw Valley State University in chemistry and studio art, where she previously did research on 3-D printable analytical instruments for assessing the Saginaw Bay watershed. Bailey previously worked with the National Science Policy Network as a SciPol Scholars bootcamp instructor and later as an editor. She is passionate about connecting high level research to broader audiences to allow them to make informed decisions about their communities.

Ope Oyewole is a Ph.D. candidate in Immunology, Pathology, and Infectious Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She graduated with an M.S. in Biochemistry from The University of Tulsa and a B.S. in Biomedical Chemistry from Oral Roberts University. Currently, Ope studies host-pathogen interactions during Chikungunya virus infection to identify host-based targets for therapy. She serves as co-Graduate student Representative for her department and as President of Graduates and Professionals Representing Achievement, Diversity, and Service (G.R.A.D.S.), a student-led, minority-focused group on campus. She has advocated for graduate students’ needs and participated in campus-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Jennifer Panlilio is a postdoctoral fellow who uses zebrafish to identify the neural circuits that control changes in alertness. She obtained her PhD from the joint program between Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, studying the effects of developmental exposure to a harmful algal bloom neurotoxin. She also obtained a masters in Anthropology from Stanford University focusing on the social factors that were important for the successful management of marine reserves. Her interests lie in integrating the sciences with the social sciences and believes that human health is intimately connected to resilient, sustainable environments.

Spencer Toru Patrick is a PhD student in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech. His research focusses on quantifying the kinematics of erosion on both the million-year and seasonal scales. Currently, he explores individual particle pathway characterization of synthetic, RFID equipped, 3-D printed grains and rapid soil organic matter quantification through laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Spencer holds a bachelor’s degree in Earth Sciences from Occidental College, where he used apatite fission track thermochronometry to document the exhumation of Nepal’s Himalayan terrains. In his master’s degree program at the University of Hong Kong, he produced kinematic reconstructions of the Indian Himalaya through zircon U-Th/He thermochronometry and zircon U-Pb geochronology.

Sugosh Prabhu is an editorial board member of the Marie Curie Alumni Association - an international non-profit organization established and supported by the European Commission. He did his doctoral work at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India where he investigated solute solvent interactions in complex fluids using time resolved spectroscopic techniques. He then joined as a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven. He was awarded the Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship (of the European Commission) to investigate the role of ionic liquids in stabilizing nucleic acids. Apart from research he is interested in policy, science communication and science diplomacy.

Zack Quirk is a National Science Foundation Fellow and PhD Candidate in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. He earned a BS in Ecology/Evolutionary Biology and a BA in Geological Sciences from the University of Rochester. Zack’s research focuses on leaf trait evolution and plasticity in living and fossil monocot flowering plants. At Michigan, Zack is a member of the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy graduate certificate program. Apart from his doctoral studies, Zack serves as a team co-lead for the environmental justice policy group of the Virginia Scientist-Community Interface (V-SCI). His policy interests include climate change impact policy, energy transition policy, and environmental justice. Zack enjoys beer and mead homebrew, as well as playing sports with friends.

Morgan Rothschadl is a Ph.D. student in the Basic Biomedical Sciences at the University of South Dakota. She graduated from Augustana University in 2020 with her B.A. in Biochemistry (ACS). Her current research focuses on better understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying trophic factor signaling and how these mechanisms lead to phenotypic changes in cognition. While broadly interested in science policy, Morgan has specific interests in science communication and teaching, ethics, and health and well-being.

Tara Shankar is a graduate student in computer science at Princeton University. She is interested in machine learning and its applications to natural language processing, including the ways autonomous agents evolve language-like representations and the evaluation of bias in deep language models. She is broadly interested in science and technology policy, but has specific interest in algorithmic fairness and STEM education policy.

Jennie C. Steyaert is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Physical Geography department at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Her research centers on modeling water management in Europe and the Lower Mekong Delta in order to build resilient management strategies with respect to extreme events. She completed her M.S. in Hydrology at the University of Arizona and her B.S. in Biochemistry at Colorado State University. In addition to her schooling, she spent a year in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) teaching high school science, English and Health and providing logistical support on the FSM’s National Women’s Conference. This sparked her interest in science policy and the multitude of impacts it can have on the local, national, and global scales. In her last year of her Masters, she participated in a Diplomacy Lab run through the US Department of State developing policy recommendations to mitigate climate change impacts along the Mekong River in southeast Asia. Most recently, she has co-authored articles on using experiential learning in science policy and global health diplomacy and serves on the Scientific Committee for the UNESCO Groundwater Youth Network.

Lauren Wagner is a PhD candidate studying Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she uses magnetic resonance imaging and behavior to understand the neural bases of language development in infancy. Lauren is passionate about discovering the secrets of the brain's critical and sensitive periods for language-learning. Outside of the lab, Lauren serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning neuroscience education website, Knowing Neurons, and is an active member of the National Science Policy Network, where she enjoys learning about issues in science policy, science diplomacy, and linguistic equity in science. In her free time, she enjoys learning languages, gardening, and testing out new recipes on friends. Lauren received her bachelor’s degrees in Neuroscience and Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Shelby Weaver is a Ph.D. student in Psychology at University of Wisconsin – Madison. She graduated from UW – Madison in 2017 with a B.S. in Neurobiology and Psychology and a minor in Criminal Justice. She is interested in the effects of traumatic experiences on behaviors and mental health symptoms that increase risk for involvement in the criminal justice system, and her current research focuses on increasing access to evidence-based programs for incarcerated individuals in Wisconsin. She is a member of Catalysts for Science Policy, a student organization at UW – Madison, and the National Science Policy Network. Her policy work has focused on criminal justice issues in the State of Wisconsin, but she hopes her career after graduate school will focus more broadly on increasing evidence-based practices within carceral systems.

Associate Editors

Miriam Aczel is a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute for Energy & Environment (CIEE), at UC Berkeley, working on the Oakland EcoBlock project. She is also currently an Honorary Research Associate at Imperial College London’s Centre for Environmental Policy.

Miriam earned her PhD at Imperial College London in 2020, where she was a President’s PhD Scholar. Her doctoral research was on environmental and community impacts of ‘fracking’ to extract shale gas in the UK, USA, France, China, and Algeria. Other research areas include greenhouse gas removal technologies; climate science and policy; international energy law and policy; human rights and environmental justice; environmental health; and citizen science. Miriam recently participated in an NSF-funded Graduate Pursuit at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) in Annapolis, researching mangrove ecosystem conservation.

Miriam holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London and a BA in Geography & Earth Systems Science with minors in Italian and Geology & Geophysics from McGill University, Montreal. She has been a visiting researcher at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, DC, and Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. She currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Science Policy and Governance (JSPG) and is Director of Communications for Leaders in Energy, an environmental organization based in Washington, DC. She is co-founder of the non-profit Amir D. Aczel Foundation for STEM Education. Miriam loves exploring new places and learning languages. She speaks French, Italian, and Hebrew and is studying Spanish.

Abbey Boyd (she/her) is a PhD student and USDA National Needs Fellow in Food Science & Technology at Iowa State University. She holds a B.A. in Biological Sciences from Northwestern University. Her research is on in vitro models of human digestion for the study of phytosterols, a lipophilic bioactive compound with numerous potential health benefits. She became interested in science policy during the (long) time leading up to the Iowa Caucuses and wanted to be in a position to advocate for science in the policies being marketed by dozens of presidential hopefuls visiting her community. Once a Division I softball player, maintaining her health and wellness was critical to her success. Having replaced softball with PhD research, Abbey now serves as the Wellness Chair of Iowa State's Graduate and Professional Student Senate and seeks to promote holistic wellness of her fellow graduate students as they pursue their degrees.

Matthew Davidson is the Science Policy Fellow at Research!America where he advocates for increased research funding. He recently studied prosthetic arms and designed assistive devices for people with disabilities. He wrote a monthly advice column for the NIH Bettering Careers in Science blog covering topics from ways to improve student mental health to playing Dungeons & Dragons to improve your networking skills. Matt is the Chair Emeritus of Government Relations for Project Bridge Colorado where he developed a Science Gong Show that gives researchers three minutes to present their work to an audience ready to “gong” them with cow-bells if they use too much jargon. He also organized a poster day at the Colorado Capitol for graduate students to share their work with legislators. He earned his PhD in bioengineering at the University of Colorado Denver and is proud to have a BA in Physics and Biology.

Sara Marriott is a Ph.D. student in Environmental Science and Public Policy at George Mason University. She received an M.S. in Coastal and Ocean Policy and a B.S. in Marine Biology from UNC-Wilmington. During her Masters degree, she worked with the nonprofit, BFREE on developing a handbook for how to grow sustainable chocolate. Post graduating, Sara spent nearly two years working on commercial longline vessels as an Observer collecting data for NOAA. Once back on dry land, she worked with Rare, an international NGO, on its Fish Forever program studying how marine protected areas and property rights impact fishing yield. Sara’s passion is in working closely with stakeholders to build sustainable fisheries that support both ecosystem health and fishermen. Now, she is researching the relationships between fishermen, the ecosystem, and governance.

Clayton Nevins is a PhD Candidate in the Soil and Water Sciences Department at the University of Florida. His research is focused on characterizing soil and plant microbiome responses to agroecosystem management practices and environmental perturbations. Broadly, he is interested in the topics of microbial ecology, soil health, and agriculture sustainability. Prior to his PhD, Clayton completed his BSc and MSc at Purdue University with academic concentrations in emerging environmental challenges and ecological sciences and engineering, respectively. Clayton has represented science-based policy and graduate student interests through numerous leadership positions during his graduate school tenure. He currently serves as a Science Policy Expert on the American Society of Agronomy Science Policy Committee and was elected as the Chair of the Graduate Student Committee for the Agronomy, Crop, and Soil Science Societies of America. He received the 2017 Future Leaders in Science Award from the American Society of Agronomy and was selected by Purdue University to participate in the 2018 Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering Workshop held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Derek Wang is a PhD student in Applied Physics and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at Harvard University. His research currently focuses on the intersection between quantum optics and quantum chemistry for applications in quantum computing, and his previous research interests include materials for brain-matter interfaces, deep tissue imaging at the nanoscale, solar-heat converters, and tissue scaffolds. Within science policy, Derek is particularly interested in improving the infrastructure that spurs technology transfer between labs and companies. He received a BS and MS in Materials Science from Stanford University and a MSc in Theoretical Chemistry from Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar.

Dilara Kiran is a third year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine candidate at Colorado State University (CSU). She completed a Master of Science in Microbiology at CSU in summer 2020, focusing on how infection with the bacteria that causes tuberculosis alters immune cell metabolism. She serves as the Secretary for CSU Science in Action, a graduate student science policy and science communication group. She also serves as the National Science Policy Network (NSPN) Graduate Education Committee Chair and co-leads the NSPN Wikipedia Initiative. In addition, Dilara co-leads the Mentoring Future Scientists project as part of the Board of Directors for Future of Research, a non-profit which advocates for and supports early career researchers. She was previously invited by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) to speak on a panel about the role of microbiologists in public policy at the 2019 ASM Microbe meeting and was sponsored by ASM to attend the 2019 AAAS Catalyzing Advocacy in Science & Engineering Workshop. In September 2018, she served as a Government Relations Division Extern with the American Veterinary Medical Association in Washington D.C. She aspires to use her knowledge of both clinical veterinary practice and research to contribute to evidence-based science policy.

Ethan FitzGerald is a Ph.D. candidate in Brown University's Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry Graduate Program (MCB). His thesis research focuses on identifying novel molecular mechanisms regulating host susceptibility to influenza and bacterial coinfections. Particularly, he aims to develop novel therapeutic strategies that modulate the host’s immune and tissue damage responses to improve the host’s resilience to infection. He carries out this research program using 3-dimensional human airway tissue culture models and bioinformatics based approaches. Outside the laboratory, Ethan has contributed to public service roles within his graduate community, serving as MCB Graduate Program Student Representative and as a member of the MCB Graduate Program Admissions Committee. As an undergraduate student at Wheaton College, he developed a passion for science policy and governance, majoring in Biochemistry and Political Science with a focus on international security politics. He is very interested in applying scientific insight within the context of international security politics, particularly regarding disease eradication, pandemic preparedness, and other diverse biosecurity topics. In his personal time, he enjoys hiking, fishing, and caring for the many pets and plants he shares with his fiancé.

Jake Russell is a Fellow at ARPA-E, a Department of Energy agency that advances early stage, high-impact energy technologies. He is interested in how policy can encourage the development and adoption of new energy technologies to address rapidly changing global demands and challenges. Jake earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Columbia University, supported through the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship program. His research focused on novel hierarchical materials for energy storage applications. As a Senior Fellow with Columbia Technology Ventures, he aided academic inventors in assessing the commercialization potential of their technologies. Jake holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago, with a minor in Molecular Engineering. While in Chicago, he was the Editor-in-Chief for Scientia, an undergraduate research journal and a chapter of international science-and-society organization The Triple Helix.

Jason Albert is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Michigan, where he is a member of Dr. Steven Schwendeman's Lab. Jason's research focuses on controlled release drug delivery and novel microparticle loading platforms. He earned his BSE in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and has previously interned with United Therapeutics Corporation, a mid-size biotechnology and pharmaceutical company. At Michigan, Jason is graduate of the NIH Pharmacological Sciences Training Program and a member of the Science, Technology and Public Policy program at the Ford School of Public Policy. His policy interests lie mainly in drug regulatory policy, intellectual property and access to medicines, emerging biotechnologies, and infectious disease preparedness and biosecurity.

Jennifer Epler is a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Science Writing online program and Johns Hopkins University. Before making the leap from bench science to science writing and publishing, she was a Senior Scientific Researcher at Genentech's Research Oncology division in South San Francisco. There, she worked on various drug development projects, seeing two of them through from early stage research to Phase I clinical trials. Earlier in her career, she worked in the T cell immunotherapy group at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and the Immunology Department at the University of Washington. She holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington and an M.S. from the Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Jennifer’s interests include current research and policy issues in health, medicine, and the environment. She lives in Oakland, California.

Jenny B. Ge has worked in the Government of Ontario since 2016 in various roles, the most recent being a Senior Sector Advisor at the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Prior to that, she spent 3 years at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, developing expertise in healthcare policy and programs. Jenny holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology, Honors Specialization in Genetics with a Minor in French Studies, from the University of Western Ontario in addition to an Honors Business Administration degree from Ivey Business School. She is currently a Masters of Arts candidate in Public Policy and Administration at Ryerson University in Toronto. Jenny is passionate about health technology and has been an avid community volunteer since 2006.

Max Olender is a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he recently completed a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with certificates in Medical Sciences and Teaching. His research within the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science addresses the biomechanics of diseased coronary arteries, integrating mechanics, computational modeling, medical imaging, image processing, and machine learning to quantitatively assess patient-specific disease state. Undergraduate and master’s research projects focused on nerve interfaces for intuitive feedback from prosthetic devices and modeling of the pelvic floor for educational and surgical planning applications. He has spent several years on the executive board of the MIT Science Policy Initiative, an organization that enables student exploration of science policy and facilitates direct engagement with policymakers in the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. federal government. A proud Michigander and Wolverine, Max holds a B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Max is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Biomedical Engineering Society, European Society of Biomechanics, and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which he serves as a member of their Global Public Policy Committee.

Peter Serles is a Ph.D. Candidate and Vanier Scholar in the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Toronto researching the mechanics of nanoscale 3D-printed components for nano-robotics and machine applications. Throughout graduate school, Peter’s involvement with the science policy community grew to include serving as an organizing chair for the Canadian Science Policy Conference, the managing editor of the Canadian Science Policy Magazine and Featured Editorial Series, and working with the Decanal office of U of T’s School of Graduate Studies to develop university-wide policies. Peter’s policy interests include the support and funding for technologies undergoing the fundamental-to-commercial evolution, the implementation of multidisciplinary approaches to natural science problems, and the incorporation of underrepresented groups in national funding models. Peter received his M.A.Sc. from the University of Toronto as a Queen Elizabeth II Science & Technology Graduate Scholar and received his B.E.Sc. with Distinction from the University of Western Ontario where he was awarded the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineers Gold Medal.

Samuel Mahanes is a PhD student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Irvine. He graduated from the University of Miami with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in International Studies. After graduating, he studied the ecological impact of nanoparticles in wetlands at Duke University and the effects of climate change on pine forests at the Joseph Jones Ecological Research Center. His current research focuses on how climate change and invasive species affect coastal marine ecosystems. Recent projects include a study on how seaweeds provide habitat for other species in Alaska and a review on invasive species in high-latitude marine ecosystems. He attributes his interest in policy to a lifetime of commutes spent listening to NPR.

Associate Editors (2021 - Present)

Jekoniya Chitereka is a PhD Candidate in Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds. His research focuses on the intersection of global development and international relations using astronomy, specifically the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) as a case study in Africa. Prior to joining the University of Leeds, Jekoniya graduated with a BSc Honours Degree in Psychology and an MSc in Population Studies both obtained from the University of Zimbabwe. At the University of Leeds, he doubles as a teaching assistant to first year students in the School of Politics and International Studies. Previously, Jekoniya worked in the health sector in Zimbabwe as a research, monitoring and evaluation expert where he was instrumental in setting up national M&E systems for the integration of HIV and reproductive health. He later worked on the national science, technology, and innovation system of Zimbabwe as a research coordination manager with the Research Council of Zimbabwe playing the intermediary role, representing, and negotiating the interests of academia, government, business, and other actors in the innovation system. It is this role that ignited him to pursue further studies and explore power dynamics involved in science. Jekoniya is particularly interested on the governance of science, diplomacy and how power is constructed around the science discourse.

Cherrelle Dacon is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. She completed her PhD in Infection, Immunology and Translational Medicine at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Her current research utilises high-throughput methods to isolate and characterise human monoclonal antibodies with the ultimate goal of developing effective therapies for COVID and malaria.

While at Oxford, she co-organised the Rhodes Trust’s Healthcare Forum - an annual convening of students, academics, policymakers and international stakeholders in global health. She currently engages with the science policy community as a contributor to the Science Policy for All discussion group. Cherrelle is interested in intersectional approaches to advancing health equity, policies that shape global health security, and advocating for greater inclusion of science and technology issues in foreign policy agendas.

Outside of academia, she is an avid hiker and enjoys learning about other cultures through food.

Varun Gupta is a second year graduate student in the Computer Science department at the University of Pennsylvania. My research interests are in artificial intelligence and game theory, specifically in data privacy and algorithmic fairness, and in technology policy. Within science policy, Gupta is interested in improving regulatory policy for computational systems that use large amounts of data to make high-stakes decisions in industry or government and in bridging the gap between technical and legal understandings of bias, privacy, and robustness in computational systems.

Khang T. Huynh is a Ph.D. Candidate in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester. He is currently developing and using techniques for two-photon adaptive optics fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy to elucidate functional mechanisms in the living retina at a cellular scale. An avid mentor, he helps others develop their policy skills and knowledge as Vice President of the UR Science Policy Initiative and a former science communication fellow with the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Through these channels, he advocates for environmental, healthcare, and working class issues. One of his major goals is to engender a greater emphasis on international solutions to these issues and general political discourse. He received a B.S from The University of Texas at Austin and a M.S. from the University of Rochester.

Christopher Jackson is a PhD candidate in Chemistry and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at UC Berkeley, where his research focuses on understanding the interactions of nanomaterial tools with biological molecules for plant gene delivery and biological sensing. At Berkeley, he has previously held multiple leadership roles and served as president of the Science Policy Group at Berkeley and the Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative. He currently serves as an editor for the Berkeley Science Review, as a member of the UC Berkeley Asian American and Pacific Islander Standing Committee, and as the workshops director for Engineers & Scientists Acting Locally. Prior to graduate school, he previously served as a student representative of the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the U.N. COP21 climate talks and contributed to the Climate Change Literacy and Education ACS book series. Chris frequently writes and advocates for public policy related to science, energy, climate, immigration, and equity. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Edward’s University.

Josh Mueller is currently the Health & Mental Health Policy Fellow for the Missouri Science and Technology (MOST) Policy Initiative. In this role, he provides background research related to a variety of health policy-related legislation for members of the Missouri General Assembly. Prior to this, he completed his Ph.D. in Dynamical Neuroscience from the University of California, Santa Barbara in the summer of 2020. His dissertation work, completed in the Complex Systems Group, describes the rules underlying fruit fly grooming behavior, and characterizes human female brain network organization throughout a menstrual cycle. Josh earned a B.A. in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied proteins responsible for the regulation of replication in Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Josh now resides in Columbia, Missouri, where he enjoys fermenting (and sometimes eating) food, ordering (and sometimes reading) books, and exploring (and sometimes photographing) nature.

William Ota is a PhD candidate in the Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology Department at UC Riverside. He studies the effects of urbanization on freshwater communities using the Santa Ana River in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties as a model. His work is currently funded by a Recovery Challenge Grant through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. William is interested in conservation, urbanization, restoration practices, water policy, water infrastructure, and human management of natural systems. He has previous experience as the Chair of UC Riverside Science to Policy and as a writing consultant in the UC Riverside Graduate Writing Center. William is serving as the National Science Policy Network Scholarship Program Coordinator. William earned a B.A in Biology from Pepperdine University where he studied native and invasive species interactions, worked as the Pepperdine Natural Science Division Associate Laboratory Manager, and as a U.S.G.S. Biological Science Technician before attending UC Riverside

Conner S. Philson is a Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA studying the evolution and consequences of social structure using the yellow-bellied marmot population at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Colorado. He is driven by the need to understand and protect biodiversity of flora and fauna across the globe. In pursuit of this goal and in addition to his science, Conner has engaged in science policy. Collaboratively, he has published a number of policy memos and worked with leaders across Los Angeles to help protect the natural environment.

Hannah Rae Thomas is a fourth-year plant biology Ph.D. Candidate and USDA Predoctoral Research Fellow at Cornell University. Her research focuses on signaling and communication between the incompatibly grafted vegetable pair, tomato and pepper. In addition to her technical training in plant science, she is involved in science policy and extensive outreach. Her policy passions include climate change, food security, and genetically modified crops. As a graduate student, she has advocated for research-related legislation and is actively involved in the Cornell organization, Advancing Science and Policy. Hannah dedicates a large portion of her time to science outreach and communication. She has previously designed and implemented K-12 curriculum, led classes with international scientists, and organized science communication workshops in partnership with the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Her most recent outreach work has included leading over 100 plant science workshops to adult groups from corporations such as Google, LinkedIn, and Starbucks. Hannah plans to pursue a career in science policy or regulatory affairs.