This article is the third in a series of articles about science and public policy. The focus of this article is activism. How can scientists, regardless of whether they are students, educators, or researchers, market their expertise and contribute to a coherent message that will catch the eye of their elected officials? The idea for this article stemmed from a conversation I had with my colleague, Gary Kline, about the difficulties of convincing scientists, who are our constituency, to act. He is not a trained scientist, but he uses his policy and legislative expertise to advocate for scientists and their research. He has been the catalyst for several of our office's grass roots efforts that have resulted in thousands of letters to Congress concerning topics such as federal support for science programs, public access to scientific literature, and stem cell research. I thought it would be interesting for him to share his point of view on the need for scientists to promote the value of their profession. In this article, we hope to convince you that not only can you be your own best advocate, but that you can learn to be an effective and enthusiastic campaigner for science. (If we don't, let us know!)
展开▼
