PhD Candidate Claudia Mazur awarded 2022 ESA Graduate Student Policy Award
PhD candidate Claudia Mazur was awarded the 2022 ESA Graduate Student Policy Award. She is a member of the Fulweiler Lab where she studies the impact of human activities on coastal biogeochemical cycling.The Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award award provides graduate students with the opportunity to participate in a virtual Congressional Visits Day. These students learn about the legislative process and federal science funding before meeting virtually with their Members of Congress to discuss the importance of federal investments in the biological and ecological sciences. Additionally, GSPA recipients will explore policy career options. Ecologists who work in federal agencies will share their career paths and how a scientific background can be applied to informing policy.
“It is very rewarding and encouraging to see our ESA graduate students interested in the science-policy interface and to hear directly from decision makers the importance of receiving critical information on the ecological systems that their constituents are interested in. The valuable, hands-on experience this ESA award provides these young ecologists in essential science communication and listening skills will enable them to successfully engage in the policy realm,” said ESA President Dennis Ojima.