Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

News

STPP Expands Education Offerings

Feb 26, 2025

STPP continues to offer a number of academic and co-curricular opportunities for undergraduate students, both within and outside of the Ford School, highlighted on our updated webpage. These include student organizations like Leaders for Ethical AI...

Engaged Learning Student Projects Catalog: Preparing Ford School students for leadership

News

Reflection on ASU's 2025 Winter School on emerging technologies

Feb 6, 2025

By Jared Katzman, PhD student, School of InformationThanks to the STPP Career Development Grant, I had the opportunity to attend the 2025 Winter School hosted by Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation and Society. We spent a...

In the Media

STPP Alum Odelberg interviewed by ESAL on AI guidance for local governments

Feb 5, 2025 Engineering & Scientists Acting Locally (ESAL)

Engineers & Scientists Acting Locally (ESAL) recently interviewed STPP alum and current AAAS congressional fellow Trevor Odelberg about his work on the AI Handbook for Local Government in its "Stories from the field" series, which shares the...

Photo of people sitting outside Michigan Municipal League

News

Paving the Way: Taking Bold Action Toward Environmental Justice

Jan 30, 2025

In alignment with the University of Michigan’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium's 2025 theme of "Restless Dissatisfaction: An Urgent Call for the Pursuit of Justice and Equality, the School for Environment and Sustainability and the Gerald R....

Environmental justice panelists' picture

In the Media

STPP Alum discusses 2024's coolest science on NPR's Science Friday

Jan 9, 2025 Science Friday

Science Friday's Ira Flatow sat down with Drs. Céline Gounder, Jackie Faherty, and Kevin Reed, three researchers from different areas of science to reflect on the most exciting discoveries in their fields, important stories you might have missed,...

News

Student Researcher Alum Sujin Kim discusses work with Senate Committee

Dec 2, 2024

STPP recently reached out to our former student researcher Sujin Kim (BA Political Science '22) to ask her some questions about her current job with the US Senate. Her answers are edited for length.Can you please give me an overview of your current...

News

STPP student Lotte De Jong reflects on her Mirzayan Fellowship

Nov 13, 2024

Launched in 1997, the Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program is a full-time, hands-on training and educational program that provides early career individuals with the opportunity to spend 12 weeks at the National...

In the Media

Trevor Odelberg and AI in Local Government Handbook featured in story by Austin, Texas NPR station

Oct 21, 2024 Read the story on AI in Austin, Texas

A reporter from the NPR station in Austin, Texas, reached out to author Trevor Odelberg (PhD Electrical and Computer Engineering '24) after seeing STPP and the Michigan Municipal League's Artificial Intelligence Handbook for Local Government...

In the Media

Michigan Daily covers STPP event with New York Times Tech Reporter

Oct 17, 2024 Read the Daily's story

The Michigan Daily recently covered STPP's event at the Ford School in a feature article: NYT reporter Kashmir Hill discusses the privacy implications of facial recognition...

Who owns your face? NYT reporter Kashmir Hill discusses privacy in the era of facial recognition

Policy Brief

Oral Fluid Drug Tests: Concerns and Recommendations

December 10, 2024

Nia Knox

Impaired driving is an issue affecting Americans every day. A 2021 report found that 56% of drivers involved in car crashes that resulted in a fatality or serious injury tested positive for at least one drug. Polysubstance impaired driving—operating...

Community Resource

Where Harris and Trump Stand on Science and Technology Policy Issues

October 14, 2024

Farah Pitcher , Txai Sibley, Xantal Colls-Xatart, Rebecca Coyne, Sabrina Chun Yan Wong, Will Dowdle, Amant Grewal, Riley Kelly, Terry Nguyen, Austin Shannon, Vaidehi Shastri

Across the United States, there are significant efforts to encourage university students to vote. University of Michigan, for example, has created UMICH Votes to increase student voter turnout. These efforts are succeeding—student voting rose from...

Community Resource

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hiring Technology and Disability Discrimination

August 28, 2024

Jared Katzman

Do you have a disability? Are you applying for a job? What challenges do people with disabilities face with AI technologies in the hiring process?Employers are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to make hiring decisions. These AI tools...

Woman sitting at PC with projection of face scan

Community Resource

Components of an Accessible & Reliable Transit System

August 26, 2024

STPP community partner Detroit Disability Power’s mission is to ensure the full inclusion of Metro Detroit’s disabled population in transportation, housing, employment, and many other areas of life. The 19.4% of Detroiters in the disability...

Policy Brief

Case Over the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency’s Faulty Automated System Finally Settled

August 7, 2024

Gretchen Carr

In late January 2024, Michigan’s Court of Claims approved a long-awaited settlement in Bauserman v. Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), a case investigating the agency’s use of an automated system resulting in thousands of wrongful...

Photo of an unemployment application, keyboard, and pen

Community Resource

Air Quality 101

August 7, 2024

The eastside of Detroit is over-burdened with air pollution and residents are organizing for cleaner air. Through Project HEARD (Health Equity via Advocacy for Resources in Detroit), Eastside Community Network and STPP are working toward policies to...

Environmental justice artwork with group of people facing tsunami waves. The text reads: "Environmental justice is our cry of defiance against the onslaught of oppressive toxins and toxic oppressions that threaten to submerge our homes."

Policy Brief

Battery Energy Storage System Deployment: Local and State Policy Considerations

July 19, 2024

Ana Boyd

The deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is growing throughout the United States, driven by falling prices and the rise in variable renewable resources on the power grid. Utility-scale BESS can enhance grid reliability and balance...

Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

STPP Expands Education Offerings

Reflection on ASU's 2025 Winter School on emerging technologies

STPP Alum Odelberg interviewed by ESAL on AI guidance for local governments

Paving the Way: Taking Bold Action Toward Environmental Justice

STPP Alum discusses 2024's coolest science on NPR's Science Friday

Student Researcher Alum Sujin Kim discusses work with Senate Committee

STPP student Lotte De Jong reflects on her Mirzayan Fellowship

Trevor Odelberg and AI in Local Government Handbook featured in story by Austin, Texas NPR station

Michigan Daily covers STPP event with New York Times Tech Reporter

Oral Fluid Drug Tests: Concerns and Recommendations

Where Harris and Trump Stand on Science and Technology Policy Issues

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hiring Technology and Disability Discrimination

Components of an Accessible & Reliable Transit System

Case Over the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency’s Faulty Automated System Finally Settled

Air Quality 101

Battery Energy Storage System Deployment: Local and State Policy Considerations

Programs to Educate all Cyclists (PEAC)

Nation Outside

Center for EmPowering Communities