When Sarah Maher began her fellowship with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, she didn’t expect one of her stakeholders to be a bird.
“On my first day, they said, ‘We need you working on sage grouse,’” says Maher, who received her doctorate in earth sciences at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.
Maher was selected as a 2022 fellow with the Idaho Science and Technology Fellowship. When Fish and Game secured funding for a second year, she promptly agreed.
“It was exciting to receive that validation and to work on these projects for another year,” she says. “It’s important for people to be involved at every level of policymaking, especially if it’s regarding something they care about.”
NCSL caught up with Maher to learn more about her fellowship.
Describe your role.
My work is mostly year-round and involves longer-term projects. Every day is different! A big task is our work on sage grouse and land use. We use GPS data to update management areas. One day I tagged sage grouse, which entailed putting a little backpack on the birds.
I also provide scientific data to mining interests. We collect baseline data from these areas, such as water quality or fishery habitats, then compare the conditions once their projects are implemented.
Another undertaking is updating our fisheries management plan. The plan dictates how nearly every fishery or drainage containing fish is managed. Even without a fisheries background, I can identify duplications in the document, and I’m a great person to check for plain language.
Why did you apply for the fellowship?
I’m a geologist by trade. My expertise is not remotely related to Fish and Game. However, I was passionate about bringing data-driven science to policymaking. I found the fellowship through Google.
At my interview, they told me about six projects. Over our conversation, they came up with three more. There was a lot of opportunity, so I accepted.
Any learning curves in the transition into the fellowship?
They said I’d have a week of feeling excited, then I’d hit a wall. That was so true! I felt that I wasn’t contributing, but I had to build a base of knowledge for my role.
I also learned about public mistrust. As an academic, it was acceptable to submit relatively rough drafts of products. This is not the case in policy. While working on a map, I was informed that the public would not be forgiving of any errors. Incorrect judgments lead to loss of rapport and collaboration.
What is the most fulfilling part of your role?
It’s been eye-opening to see how you can make changes. When you’re an academic, you publish a paper and you’re done. In policy, you work toward something then act on it, which invokes changes in the landscape. It’s exciting to work in the state where I grew up. Idaho has a cool conservation and protection program, which is important to me.
What are your takeaways from the fellowship?
I’ve learned so much about the importance of public opinion in policymaking. People get involved in Idaho. They participate in forums and everything has a comment box! We send out surveys every five years to our anglers to solicit feedback. I’ve incorporated public feedback in our management plans, and we’ve changed rules based on their experiences. It really is impactful.
I enjoyed the sage grouse work. It showed me how the data becomes the policy, from the very beginning to the end. You’re dealing with gray areas, using science but also taking in public feedback and trying to reach a consensus that moves policy forward. You can be scientifically correct, but without public buy-in, you’re not going to make changes.
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, Ryan Nesselrodt, Celia Smits