John Bahcall Public Policy Fellowship
Description
The John Bahcall Public Policy Fellowship was created in 2006 to provide an opportunity for early career astronomers to gain experience in the world of science policy and serves to augment the policy advocacy programs of the society. The Bahcall Fellowship is currently a six-month postdoctoral level appointment.
The Fellow works in partnership with the Executive Officer to coordinate the public policy activities of the AAS. Responsibilities include:
- Direct advocacy for astronomy-related issues
- Maintaining relationships with key policy people related to astronomy (agencies, hill staff, OMB, OSTP, NRC, etc.)
- Visits with Hill offices (all Spring)
- Coordination of Congressional Visits Day Springtime, either March or April
- Coordination of CNSF Hill exhibition participation (sometime May-July)
- Authorship of the Washington News Column in the AAS Newsletter, a chapter in the AAAS annual R&D budget book and Action Alerts and Informational Emails as required
- Coordination with and support of the Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy, strategic planning
- Attendance at policy events: coalitions, colloquia, etc. (mainly spring)
How to Apply
Interested applicants holding a Ph.D. should send a resume, names and contact information of three professional references, and a one- or two-page summary of why the position is interesting to them. Candidates will be interviewed in late October. The salary will be $22,500 plus benefits for six months.
Application materials should be sent electronically and addressed to Kevin Marvel
Executive Officer
AAS Executive Office
2000 Florida Ave, NW, #400
Washington DC 20009.
Former Fellows
L. Jeremy Richardson, Ph.D.
2007 Bahcall Fellow
As the first John Bahcall Public Policy Fellow, Jeremy Richardson coordinated public policy and government relations activities for the AAS, tracked federal funding for astronomy research, and led grass-roots lobbying efforts. Previously, Jeremy spent over six years at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (three as a graduate student from the University of Colorado and three as a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow), where he characterized the atmospheric properties of an extrasolar planet, both theoretically and observationally. His research culminated in the first observed emission spectrum of an extrasolar planet and revealed tantalizing evidence for the composition of the planet's atmosphere. A physicist by training, Jeremy decided to refocus his professional efforts on policy solutions to the climate change problem, and he was selected as the 2007-08 AAAS Roger Revelle Fellow in Global Stewardship. The Revelle Fellowship is focused exclusively on issues related to global stewardship and provides an opportunity to work on the Hill, an Executive Branch agency, or even a nonprofit or NGO. Jeremy also attended The Climate Project's training session to present Al Gore's slide show on climate change and raise public awareness of the issue, and he has given the slide show to a variety of audiences.