Anh Diep is a recent graduate from the University of California, Merced, earning their PhD in Quantitative & Systems Biology. Their graduate research work focused on characterizing immune responses to Valley fever, a respiratory fungal disease endemic to the California Central Valley. While at UC Merced, Anh participated in science advocacy/communication events, becoming the campus finalist for the 2019 UC GradSlam and winning People's Choice Award at the UC-statewide competition. Outside of the lab, they've devoted the last 4 years to labor union advocacy and organizing graduate student workers within UAW 2865 and the newly formed Student Researchers United. Anh identifies as a first-generation, immigrant scholar and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Their ongoing career goal is to improve health education and improve health science accessibility to vulnerable, marginalized communities.

Megan Damico is a 4th-year Ph.D. Candidate at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where she studies microbial ecology and evolution of the honeybee gut microbiome in the Raymann Lab. Megan is a science communicator and policy advocate specializing in microbiology and environmental policy. Megan is the Southern Hub Chair of the National Science Policy Network and co-founded Spartans for Science and Policy at UNCG and the North Carolina Students for Science Policy Coalition. Reflections on her work in science policy and advocacy can be found in the North Carolina Audubon Society blog and the American Society for Microbiology. In addition, you can connect with Megan on Twitter (@MicrobialMeg) or through her website (megandamico.weebly.com).

Christopher Jorelle Gillespie was born in Champaign-Urbana. Gillespie grew up in Douglas Park, an area historically stagnated by racial segregation and economic curtailment. Raised by a single mother, Gillespie was introduced to the sciences by his grandmother, an educator and University of Illinois affiliate. In May 2017, Gillespie received his bachelors in Crop and Soil Science from Michigan State University. Gillespie then matriculated to Oklahoma State University, obtaining a M.S. in Plant and Soil Science specializing in soil chemistry in June 2019. Currently, Gillespie is working towards a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology (specializing in soil biogeochemistry) at North Carolina State University in the Hu Lab. Gillespie’s primary research endeavors are focused on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within differing agroecosystems. Moreover, Gillespie seeks to explore the influence of soil physical properties, chemical processes, and microbial structure and functionality on GHG emissions in Southeastern soils.

Katerina Graf completed her B.S. in chemistry summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 2021. During her undergraduate degree, she developed potassium sensors for clinical blood testing, and she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Undergraduate Research & Academic Journal. She is currently a graduate student at UC Berkeley in the College of Chemistry, and she works in the Long group designing MOFs to separate methylamines for industrial applications. She hopes to pursue a career in environmental policy to combat climate change on a national level.

Lyndsey Gray, PhD MSPH is a global health researcher, microbiologist, and infectious disease epidemiologist with a life-long commitment to addressing complex public health problems with creative problem solving, innovation, and collaborative partnerships. She has trained at the CDC, Emory University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Colorado State University while leading disease prevention studies in Latin America and West Africa. Previously, she was also a Community Health Peace Corps Volunteer and served in Peru. She is currently the Content Manager for Engineers and Scientists Acting Locally and serves as the National Science Policy Network's (NSPN) Science Diplomacy Committee Chair.

Zoe Kanavas is a Ph.D. Candidate in Water Resources Engineering at the University of California, Davis. Her research is focused on the fundamental physics that drive groundwater flow at extremely small scales, employing computational fluid dynamics, statistical analysis, and machine learning to do so. Zoe’s leadership, collaboration, and innovation skills align with her career goals to use science policy to combat environmental injustice. She holds a M.S. in Water Resources Engineering from the University of California, Davis and a dual B.S. in Geological Engineering and Geophysics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Sophia Kaska is the Manager of Science Initiatives and Outreach at Research!America. She oversees a program which supports science policy and communication initiatives led by early career scientists. She also coordinates activities for a group of science society CEOs who gather regularly to exchange timely information about policy issues and identity areas of collaboration across STEM disciplines. Currently, she serves on the Science Policy Committee for the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) and was a 2017 ASPET Washington Fellow. She earned a dual major PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology and Environmental Toxicology at Michigan State University and completed postdoctoral research in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Kentucky.

Shivana Lightman obtained her PhD in Immunology from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center/University at Buffalo in 2020. Her areas of expertise include B cell biology, durable humoral immunity, and long-lived antibody titers. Currently, Shivana is a full-time mom to her toddler son, Silas. Her role as a mother combined with her expertise in immunology has spurred a passion for scientific communication/policy and to bring an understanding of the more complex areas of science to the general public.

Matthew Malencia is a robotics researcher, an AI educator, and a science policy advocate. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania with advisors Dr. Vijay Kumar and Dr. George Pappas, and is a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge with Dr. Amanda Prorok. His research focuses on fairness and diversity on robot teams. Matthew is the co-director of AI4ALL@GRASP, a summer program that teaches Philadelphia area high school students the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and robots. Lastly, Matthew works with the Science Policy & Diplomacy Group at the University of Pennsylvania on AI ethics and policy. He has written multiple AI memos; engaged with policymakers on AI topics; and, during a science and technology forum, delivered an intervention on the floor of the United Nations.

Jennifer M. Panlilio is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health where she studies the neural circuits that control changes in alertness and waking arousal. 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 is also a social scientist by training and obtained a masters in Anthropology 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 building sustainable and robust environments is integral to human health.

Hanny Rivera is a first year AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow working in DOE’s Water Powers Technologies Office. There, she is focused on using marine energy technology to power blue economy activities, improving resilience across coastal communities, and incorporating environmental justice into our clean energy transition. Prior to this, Hanny was a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer at Boston University where she investigated the genes responsible for symbiosis between corals and the microscopic algae that live within their tissues. She also taught Biology, Population Genetics, and pedagogy for STEM education. She received her PhD in Biological Oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where she studied the responses of tropical corals and of estuarine anemones to temperature stress. She is passionate about understanding ocean ecosystems, how these are affected by anthropogenic stressors, and how to ensure a clean, sustainable, and equitable future for future generations. Outside of work she enjoys salsa dancing, biking, and hiking.

Sonia Roberts is a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University working on soft sensors for soft, knitted robots. Her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania is on improving the energetic cost of transport of legged robots on sand. With a team of students in the Penn Science Policy and Diplomacy Group, she won second place in a competition run by the Journal of Science Policy and Governance (JSPG) with a memo about algorithmic transparency. She now serves as an Associate Editor for JSPG.

Shane Rozen-Levy is a PhD student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) of the University of Pennsylvania, working with Kod*lab. He completed his undergraduate and Master’s studies at Tufts University in Medford Massachusetts in 2018. Shane’s research interests are in dynamics and controls as they apply to robotics problems such as manipulation and locomotion. Currently he is working on skipping and other interesting forms of bipedal locomotion with the Penn Jerboa.

Dr. Laura Stoy is a scientist, patent-pending inventor, and entrepreneur interested in resource recovery: turning trash into treasure. She dedicated her PhD research to developing methods to recover valuable rare earth elements (REEs) from wastes like coal fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal for electricity. She applied her scientific experience with REEs to policy while working for the United States Environmental Protection Agency analyzing critical mineral supply chains. As an NSPN fellow, she plans to promote policies that accelerate the development of stable domestic supplies of REEs to safeguard American defense and commercial industries.

John Tracey is a Ph.D. candidate in geosciences at Princeton University, where his research interests span oceanography, microbiology, and environmental science. He is currently interested in understanding the biogeochemistry of the microbes involved in the marine nitrogen cycle. After graduation, he hopes to apply the skills and knowledge gained in his Ph.D. to contribute to creating environmental policies that address the current environmental challenges faced by humanity.  Before starting graduate school, he graduated with honors from Fordham University with a double major in biology and theology and then spent a year studying whooping cough biochemistry as a post-baccalaureate fellow at the National Institutes of Health.  He enjoys running, hiking, gardening, reading novels, and is an avid guitarist.

Alexa White, M.S. is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan. Traditionally trained as an agroecologist, Alexa is interested in international environmental governance and peasant studies. Alexa works with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to better understand how ‘Goal #2: To End Hunger’ is expected to impact the biology & management of small-scale farms. Alexa has served as a UN COP delegate and attended COP21 in Paris, COP24 in Poland and COP25 in Spain.

Grace Wickerson (they/them) is a PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, where their research focuses on materials, designs, and fabrication strategies for medical devices that dissolve in the body. Beyond the research lab, Grace co-founded Design for Equitable Systems to develop methodologies for doing equity-centered, community-driven, transdisciplinary work to redesign unjust systems. Prior to Northwestern, Grace received their B.S. from Rice University where they served as Student Body President during their senior year as well as co-chaired the Mayor of Houston’s Higher Education Student Leadership Alliance. As a high school sophomore, they founded a non-profit organization, Kickin’ Violence, that sought to educate middle and high school students about relationship violence and over five years impacted the lives of 5000 students across Florida and raised $800,000 to support survivors of violence nationwide. Grace is committed to designing technologies that are accessible to all as well as technologies that treat patients who are under-researched and underserved in medicine.