Nov-Dec 2024
STPF Director Rashada Alexander speaking to the 2024-25 class of STPF fellows at their orientation.
Director's Update
Join Rashada in her last message of 2024 as she looks back on the past year of alumni adventures, what’s been happening at AAAS headquarters, and a few things to look forward to in 2025. Hearing from you is essential for STPF’s continued success:
What do you think STPF’s next rapid response cohort should focus on? Where can we be “pre-emptively smart”? How else should we be preparing each cohort for their fellowship year, during Orientation and throughout the fellowship? Send us an email and let us know!
A Letter: Science in a shifting policy system
STPF Director Rashada Alexander produced a response to the newly announced repeal of the Chevron Doctrine in conjunction with AAAS Center for Science Responsibility and Justice Program Director, Theresa Harris. Click to read.
STPF on X
[Posted by fellow Adriana Bankston] Nov. 12: This month [my team] signed onto the "NSF AI Education Act of 2024" to support @NSF's #AI #education & #PD mission for #students (including at #CCs) and #teachers. Read the bill: http://bit.ly/3OsI9AF. Excited to play a role in my first such project & hope to see it move.
First Multidisciplinary Working Group Releases Report on Entering and Staying in STEMM
The inaugural Multidisciplinary Working Group, convened by AAAS, has released a set of recommendations to advocate for system-level changes needed to achieve a more inclusive scientific ecosystem. The MWG report hopes to spur conversation about STEMM job preparation, improving comprehensive data collection to inform career decision-making, and broadening participation and retention in scientific careers. Read here.
2025 AAAS Annual Meeting
The AAAS Annual Meeting — Science Shaping Tomorrow — invites us to celebrate and strengthen the projects and collaborations among science, policy, and communication that already exist and promote the infusion of scientific and technical expertise into the public discourse and policymaking. Register today!
MOVING & SHAKING
MOVING & SHAKING
Florencia Behn
Vice President for Research Administration & Development, HudsonAlpha
Florencia Behn (2008-09 USAID fellow) was appointed to oversee HudsonAlpha’s research administration policies and procedures to assist researchers in navigating the sponsored program administration cycle. Florencia will work closely with the Chief Science Officer to advance short- and long-range development plans through strategic alliances and coordinating efforts between institute mission areas. "STPF gave me the experience and confidence to pursue a career outside of the lab - it was an inspirational and uplifting experience for me,” she says. Image: Cathleen Shaw
Yisroel Brumer
CEO DEFCON AI, Founding Partner, Red Cell Partners
DEFCON AI, which uses software to helping advance response planning in the face of disrupted logistics and supply chain operations, recently finished another round of raising seed money. “Bringing revolutionary innovation to the defense and health care sector has been one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my life,” said CEO Yisroel Brumer (2004-05 fellow, Dept. of Homeland Security). “The startup environment allows you to swing for the fences and revolutionize established practices in a way that is very hard to replicate.” And on the fellowship, “STPF gave me an incredible opportunity to transition from academia into the government, and I am forever thankful for the doors it opened.”
Stephanie Rodriguez
Director, STEMM Opportunity Alliance
Joining AAAS from the US Dept. Of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, Stephanie Rodriguez (2015-17 NSF fellow) is the inaugural director of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance, where she'll be working with partners at both a national and grassroots level and building opportunities by bringing education and workforce together. Her "AAAS [STPF] fellowship was among the first opportunities (...) to understand the power of systems change," she shared in an interview with AAAS.