Welcome to Science Policy Network- Detroit. You may be here because you love science like Hilary, Breanna, or Shreya, or you may be here because you love policy like myself. Better yet you could be here because you want to see them work together. In that case, you’ve come to the right place. For those of you who are still curious about what science-policy really is though, strap yourselves in because we are going for a ride.
Picture Detroit’s Riverwalk for a minute. The sounds of the river flowing, the seagulls squawking, and the Instagram stars taking selfies. On the other side of the river you see glorious Canada, just chock full of ideas, but you cannot reach it. But wait, what is that you see off in the distance? A bridge! Not just any bridge, but the Ambassador Bridge. This bridge allows the flow of people from both sides to go back and forth exchanging ideas, services, and trade. Now picture this scenario again. This time Detroit will be the policy makers and Canada will be the scientific community. The Ambassador Bridge represents what science policy experts or advocates do. We build a bridge between the two sides, helping to facilitate important dialogue on issues relating to science in the policy realm.
In our group we aim to go further though and involve the community as well. It is just as important that members of the community understand the issues facing their community from a scientific perspective. Being able to have this trinity will make science-policy discussions more collaborative and will lead to policies more likely to benefit communities in the long run.
If this interests you, no matter your major or profession you intend to go into, I say why not at least sign up for our email list or keep up with us on Instagram. You just might find that this is something you want to do.
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