Congressional Fellows Prepare for a Year on Capitol Hill

The campaigning is over, the final absentee votes are being counted, and Congress will be back in town later this month to organize committee assignments for the 105th Congress. While most of the Members’ recent focus has been on their states and districts, Capitol Hill has not been completely deserted. The incoming class of Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows participated in a two-week orientation to acclimate them to their new working environment. Many have already selected offices and begun serving their Fellowship terms; others, awaiting the election results, will start in January with the beginning of the 105th Congress.

The Congressional Science Fellowship program enables scientists to spend a year working for a Member of Congress or a congressional committee. The Fellows gain a better understanding of the legislative and policymaking process, and assist Congress by contributing their technical expertise to the analysis of science-based issues. The American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society each sponsor at least one Fellow per year with a physics background. The American Geophysical Union also supports one Fellow annually, and the Optical Society of America sponsors a Fellow jointly with the Materials Research Society. Approximately 25-30 professional societies and organizations participate in the program each year under the auspices of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The AIP Fellow for 1996-1997 is Stephen Hagen. Steve comes to the Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health, where he was a biological physicist studying the physics of protein molecules. He received his PhD from Princeton, and prior to his work at NIH, he was a faculty research associate at the University of Maryland’s Center for Superconductivity Research. He has participated in a project on K-6 science curriculum sponsored in part by AIP, and has volunteered in the APS Office of Public Affairs. When Steve begins his Fellowship term in January, he will work for the Senate Banking Committee on issues of electronic banking and encryption technologies.

Joseph Michels is the incoming APS Congressional Fellow. While pursing his D. Phil. in condensed matter physics from Oxford University, Joe rowed for the University in the annual boat race against Cambridge. After staying on at Oxford exploring the optical properties of two-dimensional electron gases, Joe returned to the U.S., where he is currently employed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, performing solar physics using an ultraviolet spectrometer on the SOHO satellite. Joe plans to start his term in January, working in the office of Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT.)

This year’s AGU Fellow is Jack Herring, who has worked on the chemistry of air pollution at the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute since receiving his PhD in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington. Jack is serving his term in the office of Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI,) the only Member of Congress who is a physicist. Michal Freedhoff has been named the MRS/OSA Fellow for 1996-97. She received her doctorate from University of Rochester, studying the optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals. Since then, she has been working in AIP’s Public Information Division, developing “Physics Success Stories” - handouts describing the utility of federally-funded science, designed as constituent tools that physicists can use when visiting their Members of Congress. Michal will work in Rep. Edward Markey’s (D-MA) office during her year.

Now is the time when AIP and APS begin accepting applications for next year’s Fellowships. The application deadline for the AIP and APS programs, which are run cooperatively, is January 15, 1997. Qualifications for the AIP and APS Fellowships include a PhD in physics or a closely related field, U.S. citizenship, and membership in APS or any of the other AIP Member Societies. In exceptional cases, the PhD requirement may be waived for applicants with compensating experience. Further information on the AIP and APS Fellowships is posted on AIP’s Homepage at: http://www.aip.org/pubinfo/flwshp.html .

Interested applicants are asked to send a letter of intent and a resume (of two pages or less) to the address below. Applicants are also requested to include a cover sheet indicating the following: name, address, phone, email, names of references, citizenship, society membership, and where you learned about the programs. Please arrange to have three letters of reference sent to the same address. All application materials should be single-sided, on unstapled, 8.5" x 11" stationery, and should be postmarked NO LATER THAN JANUARY 15, 1997. SEND ALL MATERIALS TO: APS/AIP Congressional Science Fellowship Programs; c/o The American Physical Society; 529 14th Street, NW, Suite 1050; Washington, D.C. 20045. If the qualifications are met, one application suffices for both AIP and APS.

Information on the AGU and MRS/OSA Fellowships can be obtained by contacting those societies directly. AGU contact: Pat Azriel/202-462-6900; MRS contact: Gail Oare/412-367-3004; OSA: Communications Dept./202-416-1420.