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| Carly Robinson |
BELLINGHAM, Washington, and WASHINGTON, DC, USA -- SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and the Optical Society (OSA) are pleased to announce the selection of Carly Robinson, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), as the 2013-2014 Arthur H. Guenther Congressional Fellow. She will serve a one-year term working as a special legislative assistant on the staff of a U.S. congressional office or committee in Washington, D.C.
Robinson will formally begin the program in early September, starting with a comprehensive training and orientation process facilitated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for Congressional fellows sponsored by more than two dozen scientific societies.
The new fellows will then go through an interview and selection process with offices of senators, representatives, or committees on Capitol Hill before choosing the offices in which they will serve.
The fellows program aims to bring technical and scientific backgrounds and perspectives to the decision-making process in Congress, and provide scientists with insight into the inner workings of the federal government. Typically, fellows conduct legislative or oversight work, assist in congressional hearings and debates, prepare policy briefs, and write speeches as part of their daily responsibilities.
Each year, following a formal application process, finalists are interviewed and Fellows are selected by a committee comprised of volunteer members from OSA and SPIE. For more information on the selection process and fellowship criteria, visit the SPIE or OSA websites.
AT CU-Boulder, Robinson is studying atmospheric chemistry. Her research with Margaret Tolbert involves investigating water uptake on atmospherically relevant liquid-liquid separated particles for inclusion in radiative transfer models.
In addition to her Ph.D. studies, Robinson has also been active in CU-Boulder's student government, serving as the student body vice president and other roles. One of her main causes with the graduate student government has been to promote open-access to research.
Robinson holds a M.S. in atmospheric chemistry from CU-Boulder and a B.S. in applied physics and mathematics from Michigan Technological University. She is a member of SPIE, OSA, the American Chemical Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Physical Society.
During her fellowship Robinson hopes to serve as a resource to policy makers on science-related issues, particularly climate change, and to be able to educate fellow scientists on how they can impact science policy.
SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. The Society serves nearly 225,000 constituents from approximately 150 countries, offering conferences, continuing education, books, journals, and a digital library in support of interdisciplinary information exchange, professional networking, and patent precedent. SPIE provided over $3.2 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2012.
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