A career in science policy and diplomacy: from Banana Slug to diplomat

There are 535 members of Congress, and only two of them are trained research scientists. Yet the greatest threats the United States and the world face today require science to solve them. Climate change, infectious disease, food and water security, loss of biodiversity, environmental degradation, energy shortages, terrorism, social inequality, the list goes on. What you may not realize is that science and scientific evidence is not necessarily informing the policies and programs that combat these threats. In this Perspective, I take you through my own professional path, from graduate student to senior policy advisor in former President Barack Obama’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. I attempt to illustrate that scientific training can (and should) be applied to a diversity of careers, including my own in science policy, and international diplomacy.