Fellowship Experiences

Jennifer Kuzma
1997-1998 Risk Policy Fellow
U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis

During my year as a AAAS Risk Assessment Fellow, I worked on a variety of projects related to food safety. These projects focused on microbial risk assessment for pathogens in meat. Although I had neither a background in food safety nor risk assessment (i.e. my Ph.D. and postdoctoral work were in biochemistry), I enjoyed learning about the technical and policy issues associated with microbial risk assessment, and greatly appreciated the opportunities that the fellowship provided.

I first learned about the AAAS science policy fellowship programs through a web search during my postdoctoral research position. Although I enjoyed research, I had always been more interested in its broader implications. My favorite activities during graduate school and my postdoctoral work were communicating science in oral and written form, reading about diverse topics, and discussing ideas with others. A science policy fellowship sounded like a good way to explore the possibility of a career which would capitalize on the aspects of science which I found most fulfilling. After applying and being selected for an interview, I was awarded a fellowship at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis.

My goals for the fellowship year were to learn about the roles of science and risk assessment in policy and decision making, and about the technical aspects of risk assessment. The fellowship experience allowed me to accomplish these goals and to build a foundation for a career in science policy. One of the most interesting field trips associated with my fellowship was a visit to slaughter plants to observe the slaughter process. This observation was essential to modeling the growth and death of microbes on meat during slaughter. My other fellowship activities included organizing an interagency working group for microbial risk assessment, coordinating the USDA's bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk assessment proposal, and planning a "farm to table" risk assessment for E. coli 0157:H7 in beef.

After my fellowship, I was hired by the National Research Council, a part of the National Academy of Sciences' complex, to direct projects in biotechnology. I enjoy the world of science policy, and am continually challenged with learning new subjects. My experience as a AAAS fellow allowed me to make a smooth transition from the laboratory bench to this fascinating world.

The author served as a Risk Policy Fellow in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis in 1997-1998. She received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is currently employed as a program officer on the Board of Biology at the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences.