Running for Office as a STEM Candidate:Shaughnessy Naughton, of 314 Action, the premier organization for scientists in public office, will discuss running for office as a STEM professional, the unique barriers scientists face when entering into politics and the challenges facing the scientific community under the Trump administration.
Abstract
Shaughnessy Naughton, a chemist and former Congressional candidate from Pennsylvania and the founder of 314 Action will offer attendees a glimpse behind the curtain into what it is like to run for office at various levels and will address some of the unique barriers scientists and STEM professionals face when entering into politics. 314 Action seeks to change that by recruiting, training and supporting members of the scientific community who are interested in running for public office.
In the 2018 elections a record number of scientists were elected to serve in the 116thCongress and state legislative bodies: nine new and seven incumbent STEM Members of Congress and 35 STEM members to state legislatures across the country. While these were historic gains, scientists continue to be underrepresented in government and that is reflected in both the dysfunction and misplaced priorities seen in public policy at all levels. 314 Action is the nation's premier organization working to engage the greater scientific community in electoral politics—recruiting and training scientists to run for office, uniting the community in support of them and working to challenge and hold accountable politicians who continue to base policy on ideology rather than evidence. Through its nonpartisan trainings, the organization has trained 1,500 scientists to run for office since 2017. Because many of these STEM professionals stepped up to run for office, the Washington Post called 2018 "The Year of the Scientist Running for Office."- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMPA52A..05N
- Keywords:
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- 6309 Decision making under uncertainty;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6324 Legislation and regulations;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6349 General or miscellaneous;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6620 Science policy;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES