Pursuing careers beyond the bench: Science Communication and Science Policy

Periodically, I get emails or messages from folks who are in STEM, but interested in pursuing careers in science communication/art or science policy.

While there are no one-size-fits-all, I wanted to create a resource list from each of these areas that I found useful, and that others might too. I’ve also interleaved a few stories of my own into the narrative.

I hope you find this resource useful!

Overarching resources:

  • Civic Science Career Roadmap, Civic Science Fellows (2023)

    This is a super amazing resource laying out different potential career paths to have impact in science outside of the traditional academic model. I really liked their emphasis on holistic wellness and this comprehensive resource has tons of great recommendations and stories.

Science art/ Science Communication

Many people message me, asking how to get started with science art/communication, and I say: just do it! If you like knitting, knit something about your science interest. If you like to draw, start bringing your sketchbook to seminars. If you dance, Dance your PhD! I got started by making educational YouTube videos about science as an undergrad to help me remember key concepts from my classes. In grad school, I joined a science communication student group and was quickly thrown into teaching Adobe Illustrator workshops for scientists. I also started taking visual notes at conferences, which I shared on social media. Soon, people noticed my social media presence and started reaching out asking whether I could illustrate scientific figures for them. I can!

I know it’s intimidating to get started, but wanted to share some resources to help.

You’re also not alone. ComSciCon is a great community for (primarily) graduate student science communicators. They have local chapters and a flagship conference at MIT every year, which I would recommend applying for.

Reports

Art/Science Residencies:

Relevant organizations:

Science Policy

When I was an undergrad, I thought I wanted to become a lawyer. Many people don’t know this about me, but I was a high school and college policy debater and I coached high school debate for many years. This inspired a passion for policy, where I saw a huge gap in understanding of science.

I didn’t feel like I had time to continue with debate during grad school, but I got involved in a student group on campus, the Stanford Science Policy Group (which I later led!), applied for several Hill Days through professional societies such as the ESA and ASM, and then became a Mirzayan Fellow at the National Academies.

After grad school, I wanted to continue on in science policy and became a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC).

Like the science art stuff, I encourage you to just get started! Join a student group, get involved in a national community through professional societies or the National Science Policy Network (NSPN) and just go for it!

Reports:

This is, by far. the most comprehensive guide I’ve seen to science policy careers after/during grad school. This report is a must-read!

Fellowships:

Organizations & resources for current graduate students:

Callie Chappell