For Tegan Blaine, her yearlong stint as an American Institute of Physics (AIP) State Department fellow is much more than a chance to learn from the inside about the workings of international policies and politics. It is a chance, she said recently, to put into context her scientific interests, her love of the East African savanna, and her wish to use her skills in a way that can actually help people.
“It really is a crossroads,” Blaine said in early October as she was about to start her fellowship in the policy coordination and initiative office of the US State Department’s Oceans and International Environmental Affairs Office. “I know that I’m very interested in environmental issues in the developing world.”
Nearly 100 scientists are working in Congress and the executive branch this fall as part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellowship program, which began in...
