William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellows
[Plus Former AGI Congressional Fellows]
| 2008-2009 AGI Fisher
Fellow Gabrielle Dreyfus |
 The 2008-2009 William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellow will be Gabrielle Dreyfus. Gabrielle will receive her doctoral degree in Geosciences from Princeton University and the University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris France. Her dissertation work involves reconstructing climate records and improving ice core chronology using geochemical information from air trapped in Antarctic ice over the past 800,000 years. Gabrielle received her Bachelor of Arts in Earth and Planetary Sciences with highest honors from Harvard University in 2001, a Diploma of Extended Studies, Oceanography, Meteorology, and Environment with honors from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris France in 2003 and a Masters degree in Geosciences from Princeton University in 2005.
Gabrielle has written the following article for Geotimes:
| 2007-2008 AGI Fisher
Fellow Bryan K. Mignone |
 Bryan
Mignone was selected to be the 2007-2008 William L. Fisher Congressional
Geoscience Fellow. He is working as a professional staff member on the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Prior to his selection, Bryan was a MacArthur Science and Technology
Fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he launched and maintained
an active, interdisciplinary research program at the intersection of
climate, energy and technology policy. The author of numerous academic
articles and op-eds, he has also contributed to several education and
policy outreach activities. Bryan was awarded a Ph.D. in geosciences
from Princeton University, a graduate certificate in science, technology
and environmental policy from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and
International Affairs and an A.B. in physics and philosophy from Cornell
University.
Mignone and the other 2007-2008 geoscience fellows are profiled in
the December 2007
issue of Geotimes.
Bryan has written the following articles for Geotimes:
| 2006-2007 AGI Fellow
Allyson K. Anderson |
Allyson Anderson was selected to be the 2006-2007 American Geological
Institute Congressional Science Fellow. She worked for the Senate Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources on many issues, including carbon sequestration
and geothermal energy resources.
Before coming to DC, Allyson was a petrophysicist in the Formation
Evaluation Core Group of ExxonMobil in Houston, Texas and a researcher
at the Kansas Geological Survey. She earned a Master's degree in Geology
from the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis in 2000.
She is the Past-President of the Association for Women Geoscientists
(AWG) and the Vice-Chair, Professional Women in the Geoscience Professions
Ad Hoc Committee of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
(AAPG). Allyson is enthusiastic about continuing her volunteer work
on public outreach, education and career opportunities in the geosciences,
while meeting the challenges of public policy development in Washington
DC.
Allyson has chosen to remain in Washington DC and has accepted a full
time position on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Anderson and the other 2006-2007 geoscience fellows are profiled in
the December 2006
issue of Geotimes.
Allyson has written the following articles for Geotimes:
| 2005-2006 AGI Fellow
Steve Quane |
Dr. Steven Quane, a volcanologist from Colorado, was selected to be
the 2005-2006 American Geological Institute Congressional Science Fellow.
He worked as a legislative aide to Representative Tom Udall, a Democrat
representing the third district of New Mexico. He helped the congressman
initiate the Peak Oil Caucus in the House of Representatives.
Steve completed his PhD in volcanology in 2004 from the University
of British Columbia and earned a Master's degree from the University
of Hawaii in 1999. He will return to Colorado to teach at Colorado College
and hopes to continue to work on policy issues at the college.
Quane and the other 2005-2006 geoscience fellows are profiled in the
December 2005 isssue of Geotimes.
Steve has written the following articles for Geotimes:
| 2004-2005 AGI Fellow
Katie Donnelly |
 Dr.
Kathleen Donnelly, the 2004-05 American Geological Institute Congressional
Science Fellow, worked for Rep. Edward J. Markey. Markey is a Democrat
from the seventh district of Massachusetts serving his fifteenth term.
Katie completed her Ph.D. in Geology at Columbia University in 2002
and she graduated with honors from the Master of Science program at
the University of Otago in 1997. Donnelly moved to Boston after the
fellowship where she is working at the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences on their new Science and Technology Initiative. The goal of
the initiative is to facilitate discussion of important and/or controversial
issues in science policy.
Donnelly and the other 2004-2005 geoscience fellows are
profiled in the December 2004
isssue of Geotimes. Katie has written the following articles
for Geotimes:
| 2003-2004 AGI Fellow
Eloise Kendy |
 Before coming to Washington, AGI's
2003-04 congressional fellow ran her own hydrologic consulting firm
in Helena, Montana, where she previously worked as a hydrologist for
over a decade in the private sector and for the U.S. Geological Survey.
Having received a bachelor's degree in geology from the University of
California, Santa Barbara and a master's degree in hydrogeology from
the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Kendy returned to school in 1999
to pursue a doctorate in biological and environmental engineering at
Cornell University, which she received in 2002. Reflecting Kendy's long-standing
policy interest, her doctoral work focused on the influence of agricultural,
economic and environmental policies on ground-water depletion in the
North China Plain. Kendy is now an Environmental Flows Specialist with
The Nature Conservancy.
Following an orientation program run by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, which serves as an umbrella
for the congressional science and engineering fellowships, Kendy chose
to work with Senator Harry Reid (D-NV).
Kendy and the other 2003-2004 geoscience fellows are profiled in the
December 2003 isssue of Geotimes.
She has written the following columns in Geotimes:
| 2002-2003 AGI Fellow
Larry Kennedy |
 Larry Kennedy came to Capitol Hill
from Reno, where he was pursuing a graduate degree in hydrology at the
University of Nevada after a 20-year career in the mining industry.
He also holds a doctorate in geochemistry from the University of Western
Ontario. Kennedy chose to work for his home-state senator, Harry Reid
(D), who is the assistant minority leader in the 108th Congress. Kennedy
is working on mining and other resource and public-land issues.
Larry Kennedy and the other 2002-2003 geoscience fellows are profiled
in the December 2002 isssue
of Geotimes. In addition, he wrote the following columns
in Geotimes:
| 2001-2002 AGI Fellow
David Curtiss |
 David Curtiss chose to work for
Rep. J.C. Watts Jr. (R-OK), who chaired the House Republican Conference,
an information resource for all Republican representatives on a variety
of issues. Curtiss focused on energy and international relations. Before
taking the fellowship, Curtiss was manager of program development and
a research scientist at the Energy and Geoscience Institute (EGI) of
the University of Utah. He holds a master's degree in Earth Resource
Management from the University of South Carolina. After the fellowship,
Curtiss returned to EGI for many years. Most recently, he has moved
back to the DC area to become the Director of the Geoscience and Energy
Office of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
David Curtiss wrote
the following columns in Geotimes:
| 2000-2001 AGI Fellow
Katy Makeig |
 Katy Makeig worked for Rep. Rush
Holt (D-NJ), one of only two physicists in the House and the first former
science fellow to be elected to Congress. Makeig, who ran her own environmental
consulting business before taking the fellowship, worked on energy,
science, and international issues. She holds a master's degree in geology
from University of Minnesota. After the fellowship, Makeig returned
to her consulting firm, Waste Science Inc..
Katy Makeig wrote the following columns in Geotimes:
| 1999-2000 AGI Fellow
Eileen McLellan |
 Eileen McLellan worked for Sen.
Ron Wyden (D-OR), who served on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Commerce, Science
and Transportation Committee. McLellan, who came to the fellowship as
a geoscience professor at the University of Maryland, worked on several
environmental issues, particularly salmon restoration. She holds a Ph.D.
from Cambridge University (United Kingdom). McLellan is currently Riverkeeper
for the Chester River on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Dr. Eileen McLellan wrote
the following columns in Geotimes:
| 1998-1999 AGI Fellow
David Wunsch |
 David
Wunsch spent his year on Capitol Hill working for the House Resources
Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, chaired by
Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY). During the fellowship, Wunsch worked on a
range of issues including abandoned mine lands reclamation. Wunsch came
to the fellowship from the Kentucky Geological Survey, where he was
a senior hydrologist and served as an adjunct professor of geology at
the University of Kentucky. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of
Kentucky. Wunsch is currently the New Hampshire State Geologist.
Dr. David Wunsch
wrote the following columns in Geotimes:
Other Information
For those seeking additional information and background on the AGI
Congressional Science Fellowship, a more detailed prospectus
is available on this site.
An April
2001 article by Maeve Boland provides information on what some geoscience
congressional fellows have done after their experiences in Washington.
Also available is the November 1997 Geotimes column on the fellowship
entitled Congressional Fellows: Scientists
in a Strange Land.
A book of essays by former fellows about their experience, entitled
From the Lab to the Hill, is now available in PDF format on the
AAAS website.
Please send any comments or problems with this site to AGI Government
Affairs Program at govt@agiweb.org
Posted May 28, 2003; Last update March 27, 2008
| 
