How the Science Policy Society at Penn State University engages in PA policy

The Science Policy Society (SPS) at Pennsylvania State University is an active member of Pennsylvania’s science and technology policy ecosystem. The organization’s mission is to educate its members about science policy; provide science communication opportunities; engage with science policy professionals, legislators, and others; and advocate for STEM issues at all level of government.

Recently, SPS hosted a workshop titled “Effective STEM Outreach Practices for Graduate Students” where they brought together STEM communication and outreach experts at Penn State to teach and provide exercise on how to communicate science to students and community members effectively. They see STEM outreach as a mechanism to promote equity in STEM education which is important to promote science-based legislation.

One specific PA science-policy issue that Penn State SPS has engaged with is the updating of the PA state science curriculum standards. Penn State SPS wrote a public comment on the state legislation that proposed updated science education standards. The group also interviewed a member of the steering committee for updated science standards, Dr. Scott McDonald, for their podcast SciPol connect. In the podcast episode, Dr. McDonald broke down what goes into writing those standards and making them law, demonstrating the intersection of science, education, and policy-making.

One exciting space in PA science-policy that the group would like to be more involved in is PA carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS involves taking CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it elsewhere, such as in the ground, or in mineral form (turning it into a solid). The PA Senate recently (April 2024) passed the Carbon Storage and Sequestration Act (Senate Bill 831) which will help to propel PA as a primary location for CCS, but will also likely lead to future needs for science policy surrounding the CCS in PA.