JSPG CEO Statement in Support of the Movement Against Racial Injustice in STEM and in Society6/10/2020
By Shalin R. Jyotishi
Today on June 10th, JSPG will join many in the science community to observe #ShutDownSTEM* in peaceful solidarity to achieve a more diverse, inclusive, and anti-racist society.
Dear colleagues,
The protests we see in the United States and around the world have precipitated out of great tragedy but underline the opportunity for us to listen to suppressed voices, including in academia and in STEM. On social media, we see discussions from #BlackandSTEM and #BlackintheIvory illustrating that racism is still pervasive in the academy, where many African Americans and Black people across the globe have been excluded, harassed, and even killed. We barely scratch the surface when we honor the lives and the suffering of Henrietta Lacks, Anarcha Westcott, and Minnie Lee and Mary Alice Relf. Their lives and the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many more, matter. Over our 10-year history, many emerging scholars and professionals of science and technology policy have published pieces in the Journal of Science Policy and Governance (JSPG) that address diversity and inclusion. A few examples include pieces addressing racial bias in artificial intelligence technology (1, 2), and increasing diversity in clinical trials and the STEM workforce (1, 2). Just this month, in partnership with the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth, we released a special topics issue addressing the "Impacts of Emerging Technology on Inequality and Sustainability" to help elevate the voices of early career researchers in this important dialogue. We have not done enough. We will continue to explore ways to empower more students and early career researchers to develop innovative policy and governance solutions for a more equitable and anti-racist future. But today, we will play our part during this trying time. As an organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of science and technology policy leaders who will help shape our collective future, today on June 10th, JSPG will join many in the science and public policy community to observe #ShutDownSTEM* in solidarity with the movement. Whether you live in the United States or elsewhere in the world, I invite you to join us today to uplift voices unheard and support the movement towards a more just, inclusive, equitable, and empathetic society. All my best, Shalin R. Jyotishi Chief Executive Officer Journal of Science Policy & Governance, Inc
*According to the organizers, "#ShutDownSTEM is aimed at the broad research community who is not directly participating in ending the global pandemic, COVID-19."
Washington, DC – The Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG), is proud to announce the release of its Special Issue on the Impacts of Emerging Technologies on Inequality and Sustainability. This issue was produced in collaboration with the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UN MGCY), the formal mechanism for children and youth to engage in the United Nations, including the implementation, follow-up, and review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sustainable Development Goals are 17 interconnected goals for countries to achieve by 2030, aiming to address the issues of poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice to "achieve a better and more sustainable future for all." In the fall of 2019, the JSPG and the UN MGCY teamed up to launch a joint call for submissions for a special topics issue around the "implications of emerging technologies on inequalities and sustainable development." As a result, the new issue "spans a variety of topics and styles, touching on critical issues of technology access and implementation, looking at assistive technologies and sanitary technologies, to UN policies, such as coordination of international aid, to tackling new areas where policy is necessary, such as the need for stronger planetary protection policy," said JSPG Assistant Editor-in-Chief for Special Issues, Madeleine Jennewein. "The six articles with authors from five nations, represent a broad work of scholarship on diverse areas that are critical to tackling the UN's development goals." In a statement for the issue, the Director of Division on Technology and Logistics for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Shamika N. Sirimanne said, "Rapid technological change could be transformative in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and several frontier technologies have shown great potential to help to achieve the SDGs. At the same time, frontier technologies could also have unintended consequences, potentially widening inequalities or creating new ones. In this regard, I welcome this initiative by JSPG and UNMGCY to engage young researchers to improve our understanding of multidimensional implications of emerging technologies." Submissions to this special issue aim to inform discussions at the 2020 Commission on Science & Technology for Development, including the deliberations around the 2020 Technology and Innovation Report as well as the Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology & Innovation on SDGs.
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ABOUT JSPG
The Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) is a nonprofit organization and open-access, peer-reviewed publication managed by and for students, policy fellows, and scholars in science, technology, and innovation policy. Since 2011, JSPG has provided students and early career researchers a vehicle to bolster their research and writing credentials in science policy. Visit sciencepolicyjournal.org and follow @SciPolJournal on Twitter to learn more.
ABOUT UN MGCY
The UN Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) is the General Assembly-mandated official, formal, and self-organised space for children and youth to contribute to and engage in certain intergovernmental and allied policy processes at the UN since 1992. Our mission is to bridge children and youth and the UN system in order to ensure that their right to meaningful participation is realised. The UN MGCY, through its Youth Science-Policy Interface Platform, provides an open platform to engage young people from across the globe on topics related to science, technology, and innovation policy. Visit unmgcy.org and follow @UNMGCY on Twitter to learn more.  The Journal of Science Policy & Governance is proud to announce the release of Volume 16, Issue 01. Eleven articles ranging from fertility in deep space to strategies to curtail dust-caused illness to an assessment of Russia's nuclear ambitions.
Read Volume 16>>  Update: You can view a summary of the #ScienceInAction conversation from April 10, 2020 here.
Join JSPG's Director of Outreach, Adriana Bankston, and Chair of the Governing Board, Erin Heath, on April 10 from 1:30-2:30pm ET for a Twitter chat about #ScienceInAction during COVID-19 to share tips, resources, and opportunities for scientists to engage during the public health crisis. The twitter conversation will be hosted by Melissa Varga from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Current participants:
 The National Science Policy Network (NSPN) and the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) will be joining forces in 2020 to enhance collective science policy initiatives for early career scientists and engineers. NSPN will be the official annual sponsor for JSPG in 2020, enabling the expansion of science policy advocacy and the generation of new opportunities for affiliates of both organizations to amplify the voices of science as the 2020 U.S. election draws near.
 Erin Heath, Associate Director of Government Relations at the American Association for the Advancement of Science has been named the Chair of the JSPG Governing Board.
In this capacity, Erin will work with the JSPG board and CEO to advance the journal’s mission of publishing relevant and high-quality policy research and serving as a catalyst for professional and intellectual development for students, postdocs, policy fellows, and early career professionals worldwide. Read more about Erin & the full board here.  The latest piece of the blog series with UCS is "Expanding Professional Development Opportunities for Scientists Beyond the Lab" authored by JSPG's former Editors in Chiefs Lida Beninson & Tess Doezema. Read it here.
JSPG has partnered with Union of Concerned Scientists in a series of blog posts to introduce the journal as a platform for ECRs to publish policy pieces, discuss international science diplomacy and policy debate, illustrate the impact of JSPG on the career trajectory of past editors, and provide a perspective on how policy skills translate into science communication. Learn more.  JSPG is proud to announce the release of Volume 15 sponsored by the Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC), a pan-Canadian hub of multi-sector experts focused on science, technology, and innovation policy.
Volume 15 represents one of the most extensive editions of the Journal with 18 articles that span from op-eds warning of antifungal resistance in agriculture and health to policy memos addressing implicit bias in artificial intelligence. “The breadth and depth of science and technology policy issues have grown significantly in recent years. The JSPG-NSPN Policy Memo Competition is a great way for student groups to collaboratively write compelling policy solutions addressing a wide range of salient topics around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and recent national elections.” Following a successful inaugural contest in 2019, the Journal of Science Policy and Governance and the National Science Policy Network are excited to launch the second international policy memo writing competition!
Background: One of the main obstacles that scientists face when venturing into policy research, outreach or advocacy is the lack of training in non-scientific communication modalities. Scientists can invest a significant amount of time and energy developing thoughtful, evidence-driven policy solutions only to communicate them in a way that’s inaccessible to those outside of the academic setting. Of particular importance in policy and diplomacy is the preparation of memos (memorandums). Memo writing is a distinct style that requires distilling complex concepts to a minimal space, while competing for the assured limited attention span of the reader. They are used to convey considerations, implications and actions on a topic of interest. About the competition: The competition is open to early-career science policy groups worldwide. These groups may be formal organizations of students or postdocs on university campuses or unaffiliated collaborations among students and postdocs. Groups of science policy fellows are also eligible to submit to the competition. The memos (2000-word limit) must be submitted at least 3 individuals. The deadline to submit memos is April 1st, 2020. Complete details may be found linked here. Lectures on memo writing: – JSPG Governing Board member Erin Heath, AAAS – “Communicating Science Through Policy Briefs” – NSPN Board member Kumar Garg, Schmidt Futures – “Getting Things Done” |
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