Maeve Boland Selected as AGU Congressional Science Fellow

Abstract

Maeve Boland, research assistant professor at the Colorado School of Mines, is AGU's 2009–2010 Congressional Science Fellow. Boland, who has a Ph.D. in geology from the Colorado School of Mines, is spending a year working in the office of U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D‐N. D.). She was selected in March by AGU's Committee on Public Affairs after a competitive interview process, and she is AGU's 32nd Congressional Science Fellow.In September, Boland and 31 other Congressional Science Fellows participated in a 2‐week course in politics and the legislative process put on by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She then interviewed with a number of congressional offices and was offered a position in the office of Sen. Dorgan, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and is a member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Boland is working as a legislative fellow carrying out a range of duties such as organizing congressional hearings, crafting legislation, advising legislators on votes, meeting with lobbyists, and writing speeches. Fellows also are often asked to assist their senator or representative during committee hearings and on the U.S. House or Senate floors during legislative debates.