The ASTC Frontier Ambassador Fellowship Program helps connect the frontiers of scientific research and technological development—and the diverse scientists and technologists doing this work—with leaders in learning, public engagement, and community problem solving to increase the understanding of—and engagement with—science among all people.
In 2020, Fellows helped shape the program and curate content for the New Frontiers Virtual National Summit which took place October 19 and 20, 2020. Selected Fellows are experts in research, policy, and science-engagement.
Hannah Safford
Climate and Environmental Change Fellow
Hannah Safford is a Ph.D. candidate in environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on improving rapid detection of waterborne viruses in order to enable safe, large-scale water reuse.
Hannah is also deeply passionate about science policy and science communication. She collaborates with the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy on state and Federal policy issues related to clean energy, sustainable transportation, and a stable climate. She contributes to the broader community as chair of the City of Davis Natural Resources Commission.
Hannah previously served as a fellow in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under the Obama Administration. She has also held positions at the Federation of American Scientists, U.S. Forest Service, San Francisco Department of the Environment, and the San Francisco Airport. She holds a B.S.E., M.Eng., and M.P.A. from Princeton University.
Dr. Kelly Kryc
Sustainable Living Fellow
In her work at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, based at the New England Aquarium, Dr. Kryc is focused on transforming science into action that protects the blue planet. She is an energy and environment policy professional who has held positions with the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the U.S. State Department, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Prior to working in the public sector, Dr. Kryc spent a decade in the nonprofit sector advancing science priorities in the United States and abroad. Her doctoral and post-doctoral research focused on understanding extreme climate variability in Antarctica during the past 10,000 years.
Dr. Kryc is an adjunct faculty member of Georgetown University’s Science in Public Interest Program where she has taught “Science and Society: Global Challenges” and “Shaping National Science Policy.” She earned a Ph.D. in Earth Science from Boston University and an M.S. in Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.
Noemie Levy
Health Innovation and Security Fellow
Noemie Levy is a former senior policy advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she helped lead initiatives to boost health technologies and innovation as well as STEM engagement. Prior to that role, she served as a policy assistant in the White House Office of Social Innovation helping to expand access to social and health services among vulnerable populations.
Noemie is in her final year of medical school at Stanford University, where she has conducted research on the intersection of infectious disease, addiction, and the law in rural America. Recently, she built and led a government relations team for Project N95, a rapid-response organization providing PPE for frontline healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Noemie immigrated to the United States at the age of seven. She co-authored the New York Times-bestselling young adult anthology Yes She Can about young women who have worked in the White House. She is passionate about helping diminish the social disparities that shape health outcomes for countless Americans and plans to pursue a career in Internal Medicine.
Dr. Stephanie Rodriguez
Digital Connections and Opportunities Fellow
Dr. Rodriguez is the vice president of policy & engagement at AnitaB.org, an international nonprofit committed to increasing the representation of women technologists in the global workforce. Prior to working at AnitaB.org, she served as the director of STEM policy at the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit supporting afterschool and summer learning across the United States.
An immunologist by training, Dr. Rodriguez found her way to STEM education and workforce policy and advocacy through years of STEM-related community outreach and service as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation (NSF). While at NSF, she worked on efforts to broaden participation in computer science and other STEM fields.
Dr. Rodriguez earned her doctoral degree in immunology at Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied the T-cell development process. She also holds a BS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.
Support for the ASTC Frontier Ambassador Fellowship Program is generously provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.