Graduate students take science policy to Capitol Hill

During their three-day visit in March, the group held 82 meetings with Congressional staff, think tanks, agencies, and other key stakeholders. Among the concerns that the group addressed were the Scientific Integrity Act; funding for the physical sciences; protections for lab animals; and wildfire prevention.
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STEM Hill Day group

Over spring break, 26 Yale graduate students traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate for science policy as part of the Yale STEM Hill Day program. The group held 82 meetings in just three days with Congressional staff, federal agencies, think tanks, and other key stakeholders. 

Divided into five teams—biomedical engineering, quantum, space, carbon capture, and energy & land management—the students brought targeted policy priorities to Capitol Hill, drawing on months of preparation in science communication, advocacy, and legislative strategy. 

Beginning in the fall, the group held campus workshops on the basics of science communication and advocacy. PhD student Alex Rich, one of the group’s lead organizers, emphasized the importance of offering training in how to communicate with policymakers and the general public.   

“Scientists are used to writing about their science in a very specific way—abstract, methods, results, and discussion—but advocacy requires storytelling,” she said.  

Shortly before their visit in March, the group’s focus shifted to developing specific policy asks and scheduling meetings. Among the concerns that the group wanted to address were the Scientific Integrity Act; funding for the physical sciences; protections for lab animals; and wildfire prevention.  

They identified a list of potential offices to approach for meetings, including those where student participants had constituency. Many meetings were scheduled in the week before the trip, and the students had to be ready to react quickly to last-minute schedule changes once on the Hill.  

For the quantum team, a key priority was bolstering support for the Keep STEM Talent Act, a recently introduced bill that would help international students in the sciences stay in the U.S. to work after completing their PhDs.  

“Many international students pursuing STEM PhDs get funded by federal grants, and the U.S. is already investing a lot of money into it. But when they're applying for their visas, they have to indicate an intent to return to their home countries. This doesn't make sense because there isn't any return on investment on the money that the U.S. is spending on training these folks,” explained Harsh Babla, a leader of the STEM Hill Day program and a fifth-year PhD student from Tanzania.  

Yale quantum students (including Harsh Babla, at left) met with staff members working on the National Quantum Initiative for the House Science Committee.
Harsh Babla (at left) and fellow quantum students met with Alan McQuinn (center), a staff member working on the National Quantum Initiative for the House Science Committee. 

Many staffers, including those from Republican offices, were receptive to the idea of improving R.O.I. for funds invested in scientific research, Babla said.  

The quantum group also asked Republicans to consider co-sponsoring the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act, which was introduced earlier this year and has broad support among Democrats. The bill hasn’t gone up for a vote yet because it doesn’t have enough co-sponsors.   

Many students were surprised by the willingness of staff members from across the political spectrum to listen to what they had to say.    

“It’s important to remember that Congress is largely run by people in their 20s. That’s why it’s so important to have early career people there connecting with them on these issues,” Rich said.  

“Staffers were incredibly kind and we were able to connect on a variety of things. For example, we would start a conversation about our favorite sports teams in the area where I’m from, and then we got into the science and then it became a really productive conversation,” explained Rich, a native of Normal, Ill.  

“As an international student, it is very special to see how American democracy is structured,” said Babla. “It’s so accessible — anyone can schedule meetings in Congress. People can vocalize their asks and hold power to account. It is extremely empowering,” he said. 

Other key takeaways for the group were the importance of timing (aligning a policy ask when a bill is being actively debated) and the value of developing longer-term relationships with Congressional staff.  

Looking ahead, the group is focused on sustaining its momentum. With most of its current leaders graduating in May, the group plans to recruit new leadership and expand its coalition-building efforts with like-minded students at other research universities. 
 

The program was supported by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; the Jackson School of Global Affairs; Yale Planetary Solutions; and the Yale Quantum Institute.