What They Did, Summer 2005 Fellows

“I was with the NAE and the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE). The mission of CASEE is to improve engineering education in the U.S. by fostering research on engineering education – how can we change college teaching, university structure, faculty preparation, faculty recognition, student support services, etc., in order to better educate all college students about engineering? The staff of the NAE CASEE office organizes meetings of faculty from around the country, sets out a research agenda, provides fellowships to visiting engineering education scholars, and disseminates research findings and best practices in engineering education. The general theme for my summer work was “Communicating Engineering Education Scholarship.” My main task was to create the annual CASEE newsletter, called the CASEE Chronicles, which highlights the recent work of the 30 or so organizations (mostly university research groups) that are affiliates of CASEE. My efforts to create this newsletter were somewhat like those of a journalist – I communicated with the representatives from these organizations, I read their publications, and I sifted through their websites, all for the purpose of identifying their most exciting innovations in engineering education. It was a great opportunity to learn about the entire landscape of the movement to reform engineering education. My other three tasks within the “Communicating Engineering Education Scholarship” theme were assisting with planning for the CASEE Annual Meeting, editing an op/ed-style article about CASEE, and conducting research on and making recommendations for an engineering faculty credentialing system.”

“I spent most of the summer working on the Prospering Study. This study was a large, fast track study that really allowed me to see the entire study process from beginning to end. I did background research as well as wrote several papers. I also worked on many aspects of the study, such as doing cost estimates and helping with the committee meeting.”

“I helped set the framework for the IOM evaluation of PEPFAR. This involved writing background papers, data collection from online sources and meetings and brainstorming sessions with other staff members.”

“I updated and upgraded the EngineerGirl website (www.engineergirl.org) in support of the efforts of the Committee on Diversity in the Engineering Workforce Unit of the National Academy of Engineering. Also, I conducted three focus groups with middle school students to gauge students’ receptivity to the website, thereby getting an idea of how the content could be changed. In addition to this assignment, I assisted the Senior Program Officer of the unit in putting together a grant as well as by researching trends on diversity in engineering.”

“I researched and wrote literature review on topics relevant to the Women in Science and Engineering Study. I also helped to plan a convocation on Women in S&E, and helped with the Higher Education focus group for the Prospering Study.”

“During the 2005 summer session I worked predominantly with my mentor and the study director of the report ‘Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies: Hispanics and the American Future’ on the dissemination planning process for the upcoming release of the report. My job this session was multifaceted and required a lot of flexibility in order to switch gears week to week as my assignments and tasks changed. These tasks included everything from developing materials for the presentation of the report at state briefings to the development of contact lists for the prospective invitees to the briefings. Towards the end of this process I have been actively involved in working with a consulting firm that is helping to develop the NAS, multi-state, senate and house briefings on the report’s release. I also executed such tasks as locating an art researcher for the illustration of the report and assisting the director in the report review process. Beyond my work on this particular project I have also been working on a National Institute of Aging (NIA) sponsored project to help develop an agenda for an expert meeting on declining disability rates for the elderly. Another assignment of mine was to assist in the development of materials for the CEGIS website.”

“I was with the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education in the NAE. My project involved gauging the political prospects for increasing the funding for engineering education research. In addition to research into budgets and legislation, I conducted interviews with a variety of Congressional staff members. I developed short ‘one-pagers’ designed to make the case for engineering education research to policymakers, and wrote a final report giving recommendations to University researchers who want to become more engaged politically on education research issues.”

“Helped organize a conference on the potential for, and strategies for mitigating the impact of a worldwide peak in oil production. Wrote a couple prospectuses for future potential studies. Arranged and attended a meeting between a congressman & his staff (on one side) and my mentor & myself (on the other side) which could potentially lead to future academy studies. This particular representative has a strong interest in energy issues. I attended a wide variety of hearings up on the hill. I picked the right time to come in that there is so much going on concerning energy right now. I attended a variety of other lectures—all concerning energy issues. I attended a committee meeting and learned a lot about how the academy/committee process worked. I attended GBEC and ONPI meetings and learned about how these respective groups worked. I worked a fair amount on our seminar. My major seminar task was creating the publicity flyers and table-tents. I spent a lot of time with my fellow fellows, socializing and really getting to know them. They are an amazing group of people!”

“My fellowship was with ILAR/DELS. My work has been/is the start up work for a committee that will be writing a report on distress in lab animals. I have been doing literature searches to find appropriate background information on the matter as well as supply the future committee with some sort of reference point to start from. I reviewed an older similar report to identify advances in the science since then that ought to be addressed. I have also been working on a list of potential committee members to write the report. Further, I have been doing some work on another report that is nearing review in order to make sure information is correct and presented properly. I went to two different Congressional hearings. I spent some time visiting different landmarks around the city. Within the Academies, I attended 2 GBEC meetings, which when compared with Congressional hearings are far more interesting and productive. I attended committee meetings for: BANR (Pollinators report), ILAR/BLS (Aerosolized Agents Testing); ILAR (Guide revision Meeting); ILAR (Council meeting in Woods Hole). I also took some opportunities to meet with different people from around the Academies who work in fields I am interested in. I found that the staff are always willing to meet with one of the fellows and people are interested and will take time to meet with you. Initially I wasn’t certain what to do. DC can be overwhelming. Even after living here a year before the fellowship, there was still a lot left to experience. I found that planning one event per week, in terms of visits or meetings or museums worked out very well.”

“This summer I was with the Food and Nutrition Board and was a member of the FNB staff group working with the Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth. I worked closely with the co-study directors to complete research for and writing of various sections of the report that will be released later this year. I participated in committee conference calls, the IOM pre-review meeting for the report, a report financial meeting, and staff meetings. Besides my involvement with the report, I also attended the FTC conference titled “Perspectives on Marketing Self-regulation and Childhood Obesity” which was held in response to the IOM’s recent report, Preventing Childhood Obesity. I also attending several subcommittee hearings and meetings on the hill including the Subcommittee on Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture Programs’ Public Hearing for a Review of Food Aid Programs; and OECD Breakfast Series on the release of the report “Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries: Monitoring and Evaluation 2005”; Subcommittee Hearing on Genetically Modified Crops; and the USDA Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing. Other activities included participating in the FNB’s Food Forum which addressed the topic of food allergens, a timely topic in light of the FDA’s recent proposed rule-making on the same issue; setting up introduction meeting with each of the staff members and program officers on the FNB to learn about the different projects they’ve been involved with; having networking lunches with colleagues of several of my professors; and touring the IMF/WorldBank/OAS.”

“I worked with the Ocean Studies Board on two studies. One entitled ‘Mitigating Erosion on Sheltered Coasts’ had its first committee meeting the 2^nd week of the program, which I was able to attend. I spent my time on that project doing background research and identifying potential speakers for a workshop they will be having in October as their next meeting. The second study I worked on, ‘Evaluation of the Sea Grant Program Review Process’, was mid-way through their study during my time here. For that I analyzed program data to evaluate a series of hypotheses on possible bias in the evaluation process. I wrote a summary of my results (which may become an appendix to the report) and presented it at their 3^rd meeting.”

“I designed and conducted a survey of museum visitors to determine people’s knowledge and attitudes about infectious diseases, the subject of the Koshland Science Museum’s next exhibit. I wrote a report and a press release on the results of the survey and was able to contribute my input about initial exhibit planning. I also arranged a public program on weather and climate, which involved writing a proposal, coordinating speakers, and designing the materials to be used in the program.”

“I conducted a summative evaluation two of the hallmark interactives at the Marian Koshland Science Museum. I wrote two reports that will hopefully be used in future exhibit and planning processes for the museum. I was able to present my findings to Dr. Dan Koshland our major donor to the museum. I also designed an educational worksheet for younger visitors on the DNA exhibit. I was able to sit in on and comment on the scientific steering committee process for the new exhibit Infectious Diseases (during the design and planning sections). I observed daily museum operations and participated in the slate of public program offerings. I also was able to contribute professional museum resources and put my graduate program Museum Studies into contact with Koshland for a potential future collaboration.”

“I spent this summer with the Board on Army Science and Technology on a chemical demilitarization study. The committee was tasked with looking at the chemical weapons destruction technologies used by countries other than the U.S. and assessing their usefulness to the U.S. Army. I was asked to search out as much information as I could find on the technologies used by other countries and to identify individuals who could brief the committee. Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), the contract for this project did not come through until the very end of my time at The Academies. This meant that I was the only individual devoting any substantial amount of time to this project (which had its pros and cons). Also, my mentor (and the study director for his project) had to leave the Academies two weeks before my time hsere was over (her husband was appointed as ambassador to the IAEA in Vienna). In my first few weeks here, my board provided me the opportunity to attend their quarterly board meeting in Aberdeen, Maryland. It was a great experience to spend three days with the board members and the experience was one I will never forget. I got to see all aspects of Army science and technology research; from soldier performance research, to treatments for chemical weapons exposure. Oh yea, I also got to fire off a few rounds from an M-4 and an M-16 on a high-tech shooting range!”

“I worked with the Board on Global Health on an evaluation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Specific projects I completed include mapping out major donors of HIV/AIDS relief funding around the world and writing a brief summary paper on this topic, creating country profiles (in terms of general information and specific AIDS related data) for PEPFAR's 15 focus countries, researching and creating specific metrics in which to evaluate coordination and harmonization within PEPFAR and between PEPFAR and other major donors including focus country governments, researching issues of women and girls as related to HIV/AIDS programs and updating our evaluation materials to reflect such issues, and helping with the overall administration of the July Committee meeting. With the BGH, I participated in many staff meetings, and attended a variety of symposiums related to HIV/AIDS in DC.”