Communicating NSF’s Value to Elected Officials
Although the National Science Foundation is, as its name suggests, a national agency, the importance of communicating the value of science lies in every congressional district in the United States. On , July 26, Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) hosted a webinar titled “Communicating the Value of NSF to Elected Officials” which focused on that need and which offered advice about a range of ways for scientists and engineers to engage with elected officials while they are home in their districts.
The webinar included four panelists:
- CNSF co-chair Erin Heath, associate director of government relations, AAAS
- Steve Newell, senior legislative and federal affairs officer, American Psychological Association
- Christina West, assistant vice chancellor for federal relations, Vanderbilt University
- Leah Pagnozzi, graduate research associate, Cornell University
The coalition hopes to see $8.45 billion in funding for NSF in FY19. Senate and House bills reported out of committee but waiting to come before full chambers have increased NSF funding over levels from this fiscal year, but at amounts below the CNSF goal — $8.17 billion in the House and $8.09 billion from the Senate.
CNSF is an alliance of over 130 professional organizations, universities and businesses united by a concern for the future vitality of the national science, mathematics, and engineering enterprise. CNSF supports increasing the national investment in the National Science Foundation’s research and education programs in response to the unprecedented scientific, technological and economic opportunities facing the United States.
Full video of the panel and discussion is below.
