UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Emily Sandall, who completed her doctoral studies in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences in 2020, has been selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to be part of its 50th class of Science and Technology Policy fellows.
Sandall will spend a year serving in the Office of Trade Policy and Geographic Affairs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Her research has focused on characterizing insect biodiversity patterns through geographic, morphological and phylogenetic methods.
After earning her doctorate in entomology at the University, Sandall worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Yale University, where she examined global dragonfly biogeography and led a team of species experts. In her fellowship role, she will build on her biodiversity and global change research and apply it to multilateral affairs in agricultural policy.
“My time at Penn State exposed me to many different agricultural and research experiences, from Ag Progress Days to the Great Insect Fair,” she said. “It expanded my horizons as someone with many research interests and a real desire for broad engagement with science.”
Sandall also served as the president of the Community Garden at Penn State and a representative of the Student Sustainability Advisory Council and Entomology Graduate Student Association.
Sandall said that she felt very fortunate to take a wide array of coursework — from bioethics to entomology to bioinformatics — to help round out how she saw her work in the broader scientific landscape.
“The opportunities I had at Penn State showed me that I wanted to pursue a career where I could work at the interface of science and society,” Sandall said. “The skills I built through those diverse experiences helped me on the journey to this fellowship.”
Gary Felton, professor and head of the Department of Entomology, said Sandall was an outstanding doctoral student. “Her research experience and background in biodiversity and biogeography provide an excellent foundation for developing agricultural policy in her new role as an AAAS fellow,” he said.
During the fellowship, Sandall will learn firsthand about federal policymaking and implementation, while the U.S. government benefits from the contributions of scientists and engineers.
“As someone who grew up in the rural Midwest and was the first person in my family to go to college, finding my path as a scientist has been an incredible journey,” she said. “I look forward to this fellowship opportunity to use my research background to serve science-informed policy.”
The Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program supports evidence-based policymaking by leveraging science and engineering experts' knowledge and analytical mindset and trains leaders for a strong U.S. science and technology enterprise. Fellows represent a full spectrum of disciplines, backgrounds and career stages.
The 2022-23 fellowship class is sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Moore Foundation and partner societies. Of the 300 fellows chosen, 31 will serve in Congressional offices, one will serve at the Federal Judicial Center, and 268 will serve in the executive branch among 19 federal agencies or departments.
After the fellowship, many remain in the policy arena working at the federal, state, regional or international level, while others pursue careers in academia, industry or the nonprofit sector.