Nesselrodt
Ryan Nesselrodt dipped his toes into the policy world while he was earning his doctorate in physics.
“As I was working on my Ph.D., I became more and more interested in science policy,” he says. “I realized that the physics discoveries I learned about would impact the world.”
Nesselrodt, who graduated from Georgetown University, eventually found the West Virginia Science and Technology Fellowship, an opportunity to connect lifelong scientific interests with policymaking.
NCSL reached out to Nesselrodt to learn more about his fellowship.
Describe your role as a fellow.
My fellowship program receives requests from the Legislature, including staffers, senators or representatives, on technical issues. In response, we deliver two-page policy briefs, called Science and Technology Notes, that summarize existing research, opportunities and challenges with the issues.
What does your typical day look like?
My days are pretty consistent but vary wildly between policy issues. When I’m starting on a new topic, it’s all research. I scour the internet to learn the scientific state of an issue, legislative activity in other states and what West Virginia is doing. The research phase will last a couple days. I identify and reach out to people with subject-matter expertise on a national scale and for West Virginia specifically. After drafting, we conduct internal reviews before incorporating feedback from experts. After that, it’s sent to publishing. I love covering ground on a lot of policy areas.
What drew you to the fellowship?
Throughout my time in grad school and during my Ph.D., I found myself becoming more and more invested in the news. I saw an opportunity to make a real impact in the policy world. It’s an exciting time for scientists. There’s a lot of promising innovations and technologies but a lot of policy hurdles to implementing them.
What were you doing before the fellowship?
I was working on my Ph.D. and eventually started a science policy group for physics graduate students to discuss different issues. That was a lot of fun. It’s a hard industry to break into. The opportunity came through, though! Having a connection to West Virginia and being able to make an impact on the state was very meaningful. I’m super grateful it happened.
Tell me about your connection to West Virginia.
I’m from a rural part of Pennsylvania, but I have family in West Virginia, so I feel connected to the state. West Virginia has a sense of community. People take pride in their state, which is very cool. There’s the history of coal mining and the mountainous terrain, which impacts our work. In nearly every research note I’ve written, there is a sentence about the challenges of the terrain.
What’s the most fulfilling part of your role?
The ability to learn about a number of different issues and particularly how they affect West Virginia. During the interim session in April, we met with legislators and discussed our Science and Technology Notes and services, as well as policy issues. It was great to hear our work was relevant and has the potential to impact policymaking.
What has been your biggest challenge?
It was challenging to shift my communication style. In academia, you spend time building your case before finally presenting a conclusion. In policy, you state the bottom line up front. Similarly, I had to consider what I find interesting versus what policymakers need to know. It was meaningful to learn how to communicate science policy.
There is infinite reading for only a one-page, front-and-back document. Taking a vast amount of information and trying to condense it to a useful summary of a topic is challenging.
What’s next?
The Congressional Science Fellowship! In the fall, I am heading to Congress for a year. This experience in West Virginia of learning how to communicate what’s important and getting familiar with the issues at the state level is going to be incredibly impactful for that work.
Maddy Tyner is a policy associate with the Center for Results-Driven Governing. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Science Policy Fellowship Spotlight
State Legislatures News is running a series profiling the participants of state science policy fellowships across the nation. Programs allow predominately Ph.D.-level scientists and engineers to apply their training and expertise to the development of state policy.
Read about other fellows: Sarah Anderson, Ellia La, Sarah Maher, Celia Smits