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Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy

The Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPP) is appointed by the Association's Board of Directors, and members serve a three-year term. The purpose of the Committee is to foster improved policy making on issues involving science and technology. It seeks to serve this purpose by several means:

  • by convening groups to provide advice and guidance to organizations involved in the policymaking process, including (but not limited to) Congress and the executive branch agencies of the federal government;
  • by stimulating, commissioning, overseeing, and disseminating studies and analyses of issues in science, engineering, and public policy; and
  • by promoting reasoned and balanced policy discussions and debate among contending points of view on such issues.

The Committee reviews the Association’s public policy activities, alerts AAAS to S&T policy issues that its members see coming over the horizon, oversees the annual AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy, which features the William D. Carey Lecture, as well as the annual AAAS reports on federally supported R&D, and sponsors other activities such as symposia and workshops at the AAAS Annual Meeting to help scientists and engineers communicate more effectively with policymakers. COSEPP meets twice during the year, once in conjunction with the AAAS Annual Meeting in February and once in Washington, DC. In addition, the committee holds a half-day teleconference in the summer.

Committee Members

Katherine (Kate) Stoll (Chair)
MIT Washington Office

Kathie L. Olsen (Vice-Chair)
KLO International, LLC

Alta Charo
University of WI-Madison and Nuclear Threat Initiative

Arti Garg
HP Enterprise

Michelle McMurry-Heath 
Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

Christopher Nomura 
University of Idaho

Ann Reid 
National Center for Science Education

Jayshree Seth 
3M

Tobin Smith 
Association of American Universities

Rick Stevens 
Argonne National Laboratory

Bruce Weinberg
The Ohio State University

Irving Wladawsky-Berger
MIT

Board Liaison

Ann Bostrom
University of Washington