Ashley Pennington named AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow

Ashley Pennington, who earned her doctoral degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from Rutgers in 2018 under the direction of Professor Fuat E. Celik, has been awarded an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellowship (STPF) with a placement at the Federal Energy Management Program at the Department of Energy. 

Dr. Pennington is among 284 highly trained scientists and engineers who will spend a year serving professionally in federal agencies and congressional offices as a Science & Technology Policy Fellow. The U.S. government benefits from the contributions of highly trained scientists and engineers while they learn  first-hand about federal policymaking and implementation. 

For nearly half a century, the fellowship program has been in place as part of the AAAS mission to advance science and serve society. The program aims to support evidence-based policymaking by leveraging the knowledge and analytical mindset of science and engineering experts, and foster leaders for a strong U.S. science and technology enterprise. Fellows represent a full spectrum disciplines, backgrounds and career stages. 

The 2020-21 class is comprised of 284 fellows sponsored by AAAS and partner societies. Of these, 30 will serve in Congress, one will serve at the Federal Judicial Center, and 253 in the executive branch among 17 federal agencies or departments.  

“Particularly in this age of COVID-19, we are proud and grateful to usher in the 48th class of Science & Technology Policy Fellows in September,” said STPF Director Jennifer Pearl. “The present state of the world demands a strong link between science and policy.” 

Since the program’s inception in 1973, more than 3,400 fellows have supported the executive, judicial and legislative branches of the U.S. government. After the fellowship, many fellows remain in the policy arena working at the federal, state, regional or international level. Others pursue careers in academia, industry or the nonprofit sector, leveraging their fellowship experiences to enhance their contributions and broaden their reach.  

Visit www.aaas.org/stpf to learn more about the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships. 

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For additional information about AAAS, see www.aaas.org.