Fischhoff named AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow

Ilya Fischhoff, a postdoctoral research associate in Princeton's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has received an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship and will be working at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Fischhoff is among 190 doctoral-level scientists and master's- and doctoral-level engineers who will spend a year working in federal agencies or congressional offices. The fellows learn about science policy while providing expertise to the government. Fischhoff will be part of the global climate change team within the USAID's Office of Environment and Science Policy. The fellowship begins Sept. 1 with a two-week orientation in Washington, D.C.

"With the new presidential administration emphasizing evidence-based policymaking and a call to service, we received a record number of applications for the 2009-10 fellowship year," said Cynthia Robinson, director of the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships. "This class of nearly 200 fellows, a jump of almost 20 percent, is the largest cohort in the program's 36-year history."

Fischhoff earned his Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton in 2007. For his dissertation, he studied how plains zebras make movement decisions in Kenya. He is continuing his research on zebras as a member of the laboratory of Daniel Rubenstein, the Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and director of the Program in African Studies.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world's largest general scientific society.