In Washington, D.C., chemistry students advocate for green energy, sustainable chemistry, and anti-sexual harassment science legislation
At the end of October, 12 chemistry concentrators and four instructors dragged their suitcases into a Harvard shuttle. But instead of taking them across campus, this bus headed for Logan airport and a flight to Congress.
For months, the students, who are members of Heidi Vollmer-Snarr's advanced undergraduate laboratory course, trained with American Chemical Society (ACS) advocacy experts to learn how to translate scientific jargon into potent arguments that anyone, especially nonscientists, could understand. They conducted mock-meetings with mock-legislators and drafted talking points to persuade their legislators, said Vollmer-Snarr, a Senior Preceptor of Chemistry and Chemistry Biology. But she had a final test for her class: in person meetings with real legislators and real stakes.
From October 22 to 24, students met with a total of 29 members of Congress (or their staff). Each visited four senate offices and three or four house offices, speaking directly with at least one actual member of Congress. They also heard Senator Daines speak at the Chemistry Caucus reception.
On previous trips to D.C., Vollmer-Snarr spoke up for an act to award Congressional Gold Medals to women scientists who contributed to the success of the Space Race. The President signed that act on November 8, 2019. With a successful battle behind her, Vollmer-Snarr and her students selected which bills to champion next. Since the Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act already passed in the house, they planned to help it through the Senate, too. For the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, they advocated for robust support for STEM education and scientific research. And, together and on their own, they amassed a list of bills of interest, including Sustainable Chemistry Research and the Development Act, Solar, Wind, and Fossil Energy Research and Development Acts of 2019.
"Because of the dearth of scientists on Capitol Hill," Vollmer-Snarr said, "very important legislation related to existential issues such as climate change may be overlooked. These gifted Harvard students will learn chemistry in spite of me, but if they don’t know how to use this knowledge to make the world a better place when they leave, we have failed them.”
Below, photos and quotes capture the chemists' efforts on the hill:
“Science does not exist in a vacuum and its successes and failures are often tied to the level of support it receives. Pedagogically, exposure to real-world advocacy and engagement opens up a new approach for preparing our students for chemistry in the context of its place in society.”
- Zach Zinsli
Bottom row from left: Heidi Vollmer-Snarr, Ji Hae Lee, Natalie Tan, Amelia Woo, Yein Christina Park, Augustine Bannerman, Stephanie Wong, Amanda Maille, Michelle WangTop: Zach Zinsli, Jacob Licht, Weimer Macuri-Espinoza, Eugene Oh, Redwan Binrouf, Matthew HirschfeldAlready on a flight to D.C.: Nicholas Collela, Chemistry Preceptor
"What surprised me the most is how willing people were to meet with us and how receptive they were towards our advocacy attempts. We were able to get meetings with my actual representative, the staffers of my two senators, my classmate’s representative, and the staffers of their two senators as well. One staffer of the Gillibrand office even came prepared with specific questions he wanted to ask in reference to the combating sexual harassment in STEM bill, and asked about my personal experience as a female in STEM and what could be done to further support females in such a male dominant field.”- Michelle Wang
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"As a chemistry concentrator, it is easy to get lost in the weeds of technical details and jargon, but this trip reminded me that problems we aim to solve are not only for the lab, but for our world."- Eugene Oh
"It's easy to toss around words like sustainability and green chemistry, but actually explaining what it is and why it's important? It sounded a lot simpler in my head, and a lot more obvious; of course, I know why we need to go green. But getting other people to see it, busy people with different agendas, who might not agree with me that this is what's best for our country and our planet—That's a different challenge."- Stephanie Wong
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Ji Hae Lee (left) spoke with Rep. Brian Schatz from Hawaii, her home state. Within a week, a member of his staff said they're discussing supporting the sustainable chemistry bill, one of many the students chose to advocate for in D.C. |
Vollmer-Snarr said one of New York Rep. Tom Suozzi's staff members contacted her about a week after their visit to say they have signed on to support the Sustainable Chemistry bill. Her students advocated for the bill during a meeting with him and his staff in D.C. |
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"The fact that we were able to get a member to cosponsor such an important bill goes to show that student voices and stories are powerful and moving, especially in ways that data and traditional lobbying just aren't. Thank you to Rep. Suozzi for listening to ours!"- Natalie Tan |
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"Mr. Chang [policy advisor for Senator Schatz] asked my group, 'How would you improve or add on to this legislation?' His question suggested that it was okay to think outside of the box and inspired us to go beyond what the legislation proposed."- Ji Hae Lee |
"Due to the sheer number of bills being introduced, many of them are only brought to the attention of legislators when constituents specifically flag them, and this really highlighted the importance of actively participating in science advocacy."- Amelia Woo
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“As it was our first time doing any sort of advocacy work, we started by asking for support for bills that have already been introduced. In one conversation with a Science Policy Advisor to Senator Brian Schatz, James Chang, we were told we should be more ambitious in what we were asking for—that we could disagree or ask for legislators to do more than what has been proposed. He said, ‘If I gave you this pen, is this the story you would write?’”
- Amelia Woo