Lauren Aycock, a recent JQI graduate researcher, has been awarded a Congressional Science Fellowship from the American Physical Society.
The fellowship, which lasts for one year, aims to provide members of Congress with the scientific and technical expertise of trained scientists. In turn, fellows like Aycock get to learn first-hand about public policy and communicate with Congress on behalf of the scientific community. After an orientation sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, she will begin working either in a congressional office or on a committee.
Aycock received a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 and joined JQI as an in-absentia Cornell graduate student in 2013. After studying topological phases of matter in ultracold gases as a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, she graduated with her doctorate in 2016.
Aycock says she is ready for the transition from sequestered study in the laboratory to supporting policy makers. "I am excited for the work I do to have a direct impact on people," she says. She is scheduled to begin the Congressional Fellowship in Washington, D.C. in September.
By Erin Marshall