STPP in the Community

Faculty and students influence science and technology policy throughout the year.

Faculty thought leaders regularly contribute to the public discourse and testify before Congress. Students have opportunities for hands-on learning by meeting with policymakers and their staff.

"We are not accustomed to thinking about equity in context of innovation. In recent years, we have begun to recognize that marginalized communities are often unable to access the benefits of science and technology, but may be disproportionately subject to the harms."
Shobita Parthasarathy, in her testimony before the U.S. House Committee of Science, Space, and Technology, Subcommittee on Energy on July 16, 2021.

Congressional testimony

Shobita Parthasarathy: House Appropriations Committee-Strategies for Energy and Climate Innovation

Feb 25, 2021| 2:04:00

Watch this House Appropriations Committee meeting featuring Shobita Parthasarathy's testimony. February...

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Featured video from Shobita Parthasarathy: House Appropriations Committee-Strategies for Energy and Climate Innovation

Detroit City Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero

STPP respects and values community expertise and is dedicated to integrating these voices into public and policy conversations about science and technology. We listen and learn from communities, then provide tools to engage in technical and policy advocacy.

With public controversies—from hacking threats and data security to fake news and manipulating algorithms—do the ethics of technological advancement have any influence on the companies' behaviors? Ben Green investigates.

Alumni spotlight

Melvin Washington II

Program Associate, Vera Institute of Justice

"Policymakers are not automatons that objectively evaluate data and make perfectly rational decisions. The way they react to the scientific findings we present to them is shaped by a combination of their own value judgements regarding specific forms of knowledge production, expertise, ethical mandates, and pragmatism. My STPP experience has helped me to understand and unpack how stakeholders relate to knowledge in a way that improves my ability to communicate data in a cogent manner, to a variety of audiences."

Read his alumni spotlight