The U.S. Congress creates and amends laws that govern how the entire country is run. These laws include those that manage all 94,471 miles of shoreline and 766 million acres of forest land under U.S. jurisdiction. Ecologists have specialized understanding of the ways the many ecosystems that comprise the nation’s natural resource base function. Yet, they rarely have a seat at the table when federal laws concerning natural resource management are drafted, edited, or even discussed. This presentation aims to give audience members insight into what working for the U.S. Congress as an ecologist is like on a daily basis, the significant impact their expertise can have on federal law, and concrete steps they can take to get involved. The speaker completed her PhD in Biogeochemistry and was a 2017 NOAA Knauss Sea Grant Fellow who spent one year working for Congressman Jared Huffman (U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.). She will draw from her experiences gained from this fellowship during this presentation.
Results/Conclusions
Ecological expertise was particularly important in the drafting of bills concerning commercial fishing in U.S. waters, forest management in California in the wake of the devastating megafires of 2017, and oil and gas extraction from federal lands and oceans. Understanding how marine and forest ecosystems function also enabled me to create convincing, fact-based arguments for Congressman Huffman during Congressional hearings, when he spoke on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, and when he gave speeches in his Congressional District to local fishing communities and constituents. My scientific expertise was also particularly useful when I discussed various aspects of natural resource management with other Congressional offices, federal and state scientists, and representatives from local and international non-governmental organizations on behalf of Congressman Huffman. In Congress, ecologists have the rare opportunity to directly apply their specialized knowledge and skill sets to help change the way ecosystems are managed on a national scale.