Lawmakers are sometimes faced with a difficult decision: Invest in science or invest in other needs. Two West Virginia University students recently learned how to effectively communicate science’s crucial and valuable role to lawmakers to ensure that science policy remains a priority.

Kartik Motwani, a senior chemistry student researching neuroscience, and Will Armentrout, a physics graduate student studying galactic formation, attended the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering workshop in Washington D.C. earlier this month.

The two were given the opportunity to attend the conference through the WVU Science Policy Organization with the support of Jay Cole, senior adviser to president Gordon Gee. The club hosts monthly meetings and events that aim to help scientists communicate their work to policymakers and the public.

The student organization held a panel discussion Wednesday that featured University, state and federal science policy experts who discussed how funds are currently allocated to invest in scientific innovation and the future of this funding.

Richard Cavanagh, acting associate director for laboratory programs and director of the Special Programs Office at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, and Paul Hill, chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission attended the session and met with students.

“We had an engaging discussion about the importance of science and research for West Virginia’s future and the very real need to share that story with people and policy makers in our state and beyond,” Hill said.

At the Washington D.C. conference, Motwani and Armentrout heard from former congressmen, experts from science advocacy fields and lobbying organizations about scientists’ role in science policy. Speakers included AAAS CEO Rush Holt, a West Virginia native and former New Jersey congressman, who spoke about the importance of advocating for science to Congress.

“They took us through several exercises to show how decisions are actually made in Congress,” Motwani said.

One of the exercises allowed conferences attendees to create a mock budget to see how Congress prioritizes its spending. Participants learned about the decision-making process and the challenges lawmakers are faced with.

“We got to see what decisions lawmakers actually have to make and how they decide what to do with the money that’s available,” Motwani said.

Conference attendees participated in several workshops to get a first-hand look at how Congress works to make decisions that will affect our society and influence the nation.

“We think science is important, but there are only a finite number of resources.
To some extent you have to decide between science and infrastructure. It’s all a very delicate balance, so making your case, or your story, heard is very important,” Armentrout said. “It was very realistic the way everything was framed.”

Armentrout and Motwani said the conference allowed them to better understand how to communicate science and the importance of research findings, and help ensure scientific investment remains a priority to lawmakers.

“Science drives innovation and drives economies,” Armentrout said. “Investment in science at all levels is really an investment in the future of your state, the future of your country and the future of technology.”

-WVU-

cl/04/21/15

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