NAS
Mark Rasenick: mixing science and politics.
Mark Rasenick, professor of physiology, biophysics and psychiatry at the University of Illinois in Chicago, has long been interested in politics. As a college student in 1970, when the United States was at war with Vietnam, he travelled to Hanoi as a member of a grassroots peace-treaty delegation. After college, he continued his anti-war work as a member of the now defunct National Student Association, and later turned his attention to fighting for social justice.
But in the end, Rasenick, who studied both neuroscience and political science at college, chose a career in science, not politics. "My adviser told me at the time: 'No one will ever vote for you because you're just too radical'," says Rasenick, who once returned the official notification that he had been conscripted into the army with a note requesting no further "unsolicited mail".
Even while pursuing a science career, Rasenick remained involved in the public-policy arena. To fulfil his passion for politics, Rasenick recently took some time off from his research on G proteins and microtubules to work in the office of Senator Edward Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) as a Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) health-policy fellow. The RWJ fellowship programme, run through the Institute of Medicine, is one of a handful of programmes that expose scientists of varied academic backgrounds to the inner workings of public policy.
Scientists rely on politicians to provide the infrastructure and policies that promote good science. Politicians rely on scientists to help them enact scientifically sound policies. Yet difficulties in communicating with each other can confuse and frustrate them both.
NAS/ALLP
Awareness of the political process is being fostered by several programmes, including those run by the National Academy of Sciences (interns seen above, left) and the trainers for the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program (above, right).
Scientists wanting to make a full-time commitment to politics might first test the policy-making waters with an internship run by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Although not necessarily intended as a means to a policy career, the internship, which pays a stipend of $460 per week, has helped to propel some participants into positions at federal agencies, government organizations, think-tanks and consulting firms. The programme, now in its seventh year, has autumn and summer sessions, and is open to graduate students of all science disciplines, including the social sciences (see Box 1 Environmental leadership).
That programme attracted aerospace engineer Karen Harwell. While finishing her PhD at North Carolina State University, Harwell worried that her specialization, fluid dynamics, was too narrow. She started searching for career alternatives. As an NAS intern, she worked for the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board at the National Research Council (NRC).
Because they were short-staffed when she started — and her superiors knew she was interested in long-term employment — Harwell was given considerable responsibility. Part of her assignment involved assessing the downturn in NASA aerospace research and technology funding. She now continues that work as a full-time programme officer with the NRC.
HEALTHY INTEREST
Policy-inclined scientists in mid-career, already with their PhD or MD in hand, can turn to the RWJ health-policy fellowship for hands-on experience in a congressional office as an adviser or legislative assistant. After being accepted, participants undergo three months of health-policy training, during which they attend meetings with federal agencies, think-tanks, professional associations, research organizations and the major players in health policy in Congress.
As an RWJ fellow, Rasenick worked on improving organ-transplant regulations, and helped to pass into law several provisions of a mental-health bill sponsored by Kennedy and Senator Pete Domenici (Republican, New Mexico). "The manipulations and manoeuvrings were an incredible education," says Rasenick.
The RWJ fellowship has recently been upgraded, now offering a three-year grant so that participants can see their projects through an entire congressional session. The RWJ pays a maximum salary (through the sponsoring institution) of $80,000 for the first year in Washington and up to $68,000 for the remainder, which may involve splitting time between Washington and the home institution.
Policy-minded scientists might also consider one of several fellowships sponsored by scientific societies and government agencies through a programme coordinated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The association coordinates a congressional fellowship programme with 30 other national science societies, ranging from the American Chemical Society (ACS) to the American Society of Agronomy. The AAAS runs an umbrella programme of activities for the congressional fellows and about 90 others who serve in a dozen federal agencies. Fellowship assignments, each one year long, have a $55,000 stipend.
Both the society-sponsored AAAS congressional fellowships and the RWJ fellowships provide newly accepted fellows with the resources to seek out a congressional office that not only needs their assistance but also piques their interest. Duties vary depending on the placement, but they can include briefing congressional members, organizing hearings, compiling testimony and helping to draft legislation.
As with the NAS internship, these fellowships are not intended for policy buffs, but rather for good scientists with superior communication skills and a strong interest in policy issues. Claudia Sturges, director of the AAAS fellowships on science and technology policy, says that her programme's main objective is to "bring good science to government".
POLITICAL PREFERENCES
Several scientists are actually staying in government after their fellowship experience. Sturges estimates that about a third of the AAAS fellowship participants return to their home institutions, a third stay in Washington in some policy-related capacity, and the rest move on to something entirely different.
Perhaps the programme's most famous participant, Representative Rush Holt (Democrat, New Jersey), used his AAAS fellowship experience in the 1980s — when he scrutinized nuclear non-proliferation policies — to help foster a long-term interest in politics. But he acknowledges that his home institution at the time, Swarthmore College, did not appreciate the time it took away from his academic career.
Gerard Gilfoyle, an associate professor of physics at the University of Richmond, weighed up such reservations when he considered undergoing one of the AAAS defence-policy fellowships at the US Department of Defense. He asked a contact at the Department of Energy whether he was "nuts" for taking time off from academia, and was reassured to hear that neither his funding nor his standing would be jeopardized. "I was happy with my job," says Gilfoyle. "I just thought the fellowship would be an interesting, good thing to do." His contact was right — when Gilfoyle returned to his job, he was made a chair of the department, which, ironically means he now has no time for policy pursuits.
A few scientists, such as Carl Picconatto, who holds a PhD in physical chemistry, have actually jumped from the NAS internship to one of the AAAS fellowships. Picconatto, who has worked on projects ranging from stem-cell research advocacy to computer-security improvement, is the ACS Congressional Fellow currently working in the office of Representative Connie Morella (Republican, Maryland). He hopes to continue with policy-related work after the fellowship. "Working for government is too much fun," he says.
Web links
AAAS fellowships 
http://www.fellowships.aaas.org
Christine Mirzayan internship programme http://www4.nationalacademies.org/pd/nrc-ip.nsf
Robert Wood Johnson health-policy fellowships http://www.nas.edu/rwj
Environmental leadership
One recently established programme aims not to provide alternative career paths or to place scientists in policy-making positions, but to help senior environmental scientists to communicate better. Started in 1998, and now in a year-long re-evaluation phase, the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program consists of several 'modules' that teach established, tenured scientists how to share their knowledge with the media, the private sector and policy-makers.
Participants in the programme go on to such activities as teaching undergraduate students about the policy process, becoming chairs of committees at their professional societies, testifying before Congress, and establishing contacts with politicians.
Depending on the results of the current evaluation, the programme is likely to seek additional funds from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which provided its initial funding, and possibly from other sources as well. Steering-committee member Barry Gold says that the programme's organizers have received enquiries from researchers, both in the United States and abroad, about the possibility of starting similar programmes for environmental science as well as other fields.
E.R.