Baala Shakya, Staff Photographer

Over spring break a group of 21 Yale students travelled to Capitol Hill to present research to congressional staffers.

Over three days, they had 38 individual meetings with staffers and subcommittees representing over 14 different states. The goal was to brief Congress on policy concerns and research in areas of quantum computing, energy and space, and advocate for specific policy agendas the students wanted members of Congress to enact.

“The teams all did a fantastic job in getting preparation, making sure that their asks were clear, and that they were walking into these meetings ready to talk about their research and requests for Congress in a strategic and well-researched way,” said Emma Louden GRD ’26, one of the lead organizers for the event and a space team lead.

The students talked to staffers within the House and Senate; the Senate Commerce, science, and transportation committee; and the House space and aeronautics subcommittee. In each of these meetings, the students presented their research and policy asks, and had conversations with staffers about their research and goals.

According to Julia Levy ’25, a staff reporter for the News and a member of the space policy team, the staffers were all interested in speaking to the students and receptive to their policy ideas.

“We had a really, really good conversation with the house space, aeronautics committee majority staff,” Levy said. “We addressed the needs of science education. They said, ‘We heard you.’ They love having us. They’re glad that early career researchers are coming to hear about these asks.”

Levy explained that it was particularly useful to steer the conversations based on what the staffers already knew and wanted to learn more about. For the space policy team specifically, by asking questions about the staffer’s previous knowledge about NASA funding, Levy was able to have more dynamic, effective conversations.

Louden and Levy also noticed correlations between the staffers’ party affiliations and their approaches to the conversations.

“[Liberal offices] didn’t really steer the conversation to something regarding their goals,” Levy said. “They were open to what we had to say, bringing in new ideas, whereas some of those more conservative-leaning offices already had preconceived notions that we either had to help guide or help support.”

In particular, according to Levy, the South Carolina office focused heavily on space debris and national security concerns.

Louden also noticed that democratic and republican offices often had differing views on space policy. Republicans focused more on national security and workforce building, while Democrats “generally have a broader picture of the benefits of space.”

Louden added that space historically has been a bipartisan topic and receives broad support from both parties. She explained that not a single meeting with staffers went negatively, and every staffer was excited to discuss space policy and hear what the student teams had to say.

According to Levy, it was easy to get in contact with members of Congress, and she hopes that members of Congress will continue to use her as a resource when continuing to discuss space policy. 

Although this was the first year the program was implemented, the organizers plan to make it an annual event and expand its scope beyond this year’s three policy teams.

Maxwell Zhu JGA ’26, who is a student lead and had the initial idea to create the event, explained that through the program, students can explore and learn how to become effective future leaders in science and technology policy.

“It has been exciting to see such an interdisciplinary group of STEM and non-STEM undergraduate, graduate and professional school students come together who are eager to share their research interests as well as develop valuable professional connections for the future,” Zhu said.

Yale STEM Hill Day is supported by the Jackson School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of the Environment.