As discussions about global climate change take place in both the scientific sector and the policy realm, Enzo Sauma is in a good position to bridge the two worlds. An engineering professor and former Fulbright Scholar, Sauma studies the economics of electric power generation systems and their environmental impacts. He has also worked closely for years with policymakers in Chile.

In the wake of a polarizing election, science has never been more important for informing sound policy and ensuring progress for all Americans, AAAS CEO Rush Holt wrote in an op-ed published on 18 December in The Star-Ledger of New Jersey.

Stopping intentional misuse of beneficial science and technologies will require applying the social and natural sciences, good communication, and international collaboration, panelists told a AAAS audience.

When climate scientists fanned out through the Capitol recently for a series of meetings with new members of Congress, they had a strategy that departed sharply from past practice: They didn’t urge policy-makers to support climate change legislation, and they dropped debates about mediating man-made climate change. Instead, they focused on coastline erosion, agricultural pests, and other issues where the representatives’ concerns and their own were likely to overlap.