The John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values is pleased to announce the first cohort of fellows in the NSF-funded Social Responsibilities for Researchers (SRR) program. This program is designed to provide training for STEM doctoral students in the ethical responsibilities of researchers arising from the impact of scientific and technological advancements on society. We are fortunate to welcome an exceptionally strong and truly diverse set of PhD students to this inaugural year of the program.
All branches of STEM (natural sciences, social sciences and engineering) are well represented, with the cohort being comprised of two physicists, three biologists, three anthropologists, three other social scientists, and three engineers. Their research runs the gamut from curing cancer to recovering energy from wastewater and from interrupting cycles of violence to studying historical memory. What they have in common is a strong interest in understanding and enhancing the social and ethical impacts of their work – the overall goal of the SRR program.
The program itself spans one year and its centerpiece is a service project undertaken by each student with the support of a mentor. The SRR program will run again in 2016 and 2017, with the goal of transitioning to a permanent, internally-supported training program after that.
For 2015, the SRR cohort is:
- Rodolfo Capdevilla, second-year, Physics
- Amanda Cortez, first-year, Anthropology
- Alison Deatsch, second-year, Physics
- Francisco Fields, first-year, Biology
- Maria Gibbs, second-year, Civil Engineering
- Jesse James, second-year, Political Science and Peace Studies
- Angela Lederach, a second-year, Anthropology and Peace Studies
- Leslie MacColman, second-year, Sociology and Peace Studies
- Victoria Makuru, first-year, Biology
- Josh Mason, second-year, Biology
- Sara Morrow, first-year, Anthropology
- Andrew Schranck, first-year, Environmental Engineering
- Xi Tan, first-year, Mechanical Engineering
- Ryan Woodbury, second-year, Psychology