A3D3 Postbac Lucie Afko Advocates for Science and Dark Skies

Lucie Afko (A3D3 Postbac Scholar, Duke)
May 10, 2024

In Mid-April the American Astronomical Society (AAS) brought me and around 20 other volunteers to DC to advocate for federal support of the sciences during a Congressional Visits Day. Representatives from the NSF, NASA, and the Deptartment of Energy met with us to debrief us on our mission and how the different agencies navigate political environments. We also heard from some AAS representatives about effective science communication and issues surrounding the preservation of dark and quiet skies. Then we did our advocacy—we talked with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and went to a few Senate and House offices as well. It was a cool opportunity to learn more about how policy affects science (and vice versa)! The only thing that could’ve made it cooler is if we’d visited DC when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

No NSF funds were used to support this trip.