Fellowship Experiences

Susan L. Bassow
1996-98 AAAS-EPA Environmental Fellow

If I could give one piece of advice to a beginning AAAS Fellow it would be: "Carpe Diem! - Seize the day! - Seize the opportunity!" The Fellowship allows you to have a very meaningful, interesting, challenging, and helpful experience if you do your part to make the most of your year. The year will fly by quickly, and if you do not make an effort to ensure that the year is what you want it to be, then you will have lost a wonderful opportunity to experience the DC science and policy life. Some Fellows will be lucky enough to simply fall into a perfect situation with wonderful projects handed to them on the proverbial silver platter; but most will have to play an active role in shaping their experience as a Fellow.

I renewed my AAAS Environmental Fellowship for a second year because I was able to take my Fellowship "on detail" to work in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). I started my fellowship in EPA'S National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), and then found that NCEA had recently lost its funding for climate change work, my main area of interest. While they would eventually regain it, I realized that for me to get the most out of my fellowship experience, I needed to find a way to work on climate change policy. The problem was solved when OSTP asked EPA to "detail" someone to their detailee. While at OSTP, I worked on many aspects of climate change science and policy. I helped organize regional workshops on the impacts of climate change, and created a primer on the science of climate change suitable for wide public dissemination. I helped write and edit speeches and talking points on climate change science and policy for the director of OSTP as well as the President and Vice President. I helped organize the White House Conference on Global Warming chaired by the President and Vice President, and I even influenced the U.S. position for the negotiations on the Framework Convention on Climate Change (albeit a minor influence!). My time at OSTP was far more rewarding, interesting, challenging, and busy than I could have possibly imagined.

I was very fortunate to have made such a major change part way through the year. All Fellows have at least some control to change their situation to some degree, although it is usually within the office in which they are placed. The onus is on each Fellow to work with their mentor/supervisor to figure out what will make the year most rewarding for them.

You have to know what you want, or at least figure it out quickly, and then go for it! Good luck in playing the "DC game" as a Fellow! It is a wonderful opportunity to enter the scene with a splash.

The author served as an Environmental Fellow at EPA in 1996-97. She received her Ph.D. in biology and ecology from Harvard University and is currently an independent consultant in Colorado.