Bringing science into public policy making

Bahadori’s division at the National Academies focuses on 13 diverse areas, including space, energy, IT, aeronautics, national security and infrastructure. She helps bring together the world’s top experts to bring science and research to the attention of U.S. policymakers and help shape that research into policy.

Being a graduate student at MIT alongside dozens of international peers from the biology and toxicology labs taught her the importance of being able to communicate across disciplines and simultaneously think about innovations, applications, and implications. You don’t design something and consider its impact later, she says. For example, when advising NASA on shaping space research, it’s essential to plan where to distribute resources, how to train the next generation of scientists, and how to add more diversity to the pipeline.

Private, not-for-profit National Academies apply this approach to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation. The challenge is to achieve consensus on this advice while maintaining scientific integrity and focusing on long-term goals.

“You have to see, with every political choice, have you gotten closer to where you want to be? And if you haven’t, what else is missing? Bahadori said. the angle that you haven’t looked at and that you need to integrate? »