Center for Public Policy Research Welcomes Two New Science Policy and Communication Fellows
The Murphy Institute's Center for Public Policy Research (CPPR) is thrilled to announce its second cohort of Graduate Fellows in the Murphy Science Policy and Communications Graduate Fellowship Program, a collaborative endeavor with the Tulane School of Science and Engineering (SSE) and Tulane School of Medicine (SOM).
Kaetlyn Ariana Rodriguez is a second-year PhD student in Earth and Environmental Sciences at Tulane's School of Science and Engineering. Her research focuses on ocean chemistry and paleoclimate under the guidance of Professor Yi Wang. Prior to Tulane, she worked at the United States Geological Survey and since joining Tulane, Rodriguez has collected data at the Clark Lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. This work led to her presentation of the preliminary results at the 15th International Conference of Paleoceanography in Bengaluru, India. She received her BSc in Environmental Science at the University of California Santa Cruz.
Kamyar Sharifi is a second-year PhD Student in the Biomedical Science Graduate Program at Tulane Medical School, studying biomedical informatics and genomics. He studies how genetics and clinical care intersect. Through the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network, he integrates genomic data with health records under the guidance of Professor David Crosslin. Prior to Tulane, Sharifi received a NIH research training award at the National Human Genomic Research Institute and served as a lab specialist at the University of Virginia. He will be working on a project based on his dissertation work: Genomics in Plain Language: A Community Education booklet for Pulmonary Fibrosis which builds directly on his vision of community-centered science.
The Science Policy and Communication Graduate Fellows Program was launched in Fall 2024 as the inaugural program under ASPECT: Advancing Science Policy, Ethics, and Communication @ Tulane within the School of Science and Engineering. The program aims to develop future leaders and enhance the understanding and practice of science and engineering policy, ethics, and communication as they relate to political economy.
The program is led by Co-Directors Heather Machado, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Tulane School of Medicine, and Marie Dahleh, Associate Dean for Master's Programs at the School of Science and Engineering, with advisory support from the Murphy Professor in Science Policy and Communication, Susan Cheng.
Through the program, fellows will benefit by gaining skills in science policy and communication, counter negative narratives about science, and advocate for ethical, science-based policy changes. The experience will provide them with the tools and knowledge necessary to effectively communicate scientific findings to policymakers, the public, and other stakeholders.
We congratulate Kaetlyn and Kamyar and look forward to the impactful work they will accomplish.
