Caltech

Saying Bye to DC

On our last morning in DC we met Michael Ledford, the lobbyist for Caltech, right after breakfast. Unfortunately some of our group members had to leave early, and so they missed the talk. It was interesting talking with Michael, learning the ins and outs of his lobbying. He is a very practical person and explained his perspective on how scientists differ from policy makers. Michael's rational way of thinking definitely made his talk stand out, despite being the last one of our trip.

Afterward, we were supposed to go on our Super Shuttle to fly back to LA. However, the Super Shuttle was actually booked for an hour later. I finally had the chance to visit the Folger Shakespeare Library! (just down the street from the Hostel).

To put it simply, it was an absolutely AMAZING experience. Right when we walked in, the docents offered us a tour, customizable to our limited time frame. Our lovely docent explained the origins of the library inside the Elizabethan style theatre, where the stage was set up for a later performance. She showed us the reading room, the only location where scholars could read the old books when removed from their protective vaults. Particularly interesting was the current exhibit on how Renaissance Europe viewed the Chinese. I had just finished a class in Chinese Art and a class on Shakespeare's tragedies the past term, so this exhibit was an intersection of my two classes! The highlight of the tour was a copy of one of Shakespeare's first folios. In case you don't know, the folios are the first publications of all of Shakespeare's plays in print. Prior to the folios, all we had were the quartos of individual plays or the memories of the actors of the plays. The folios were the precursors to today's "Complete Works of William Shakespeare" that seem ubiquitous in any bookstore (and on my bookshelf). Seeing the folio, even if it was behind a display case, was wonderful.

After the library, we got into the Super Shuttle and headed home. We were actually very lucky to fly out when we did. As you all probably know, the Northeast is currently blanketed in snow! So I just missed seeing snowfall for the first time, which is probably good anyway. Who knows when we would've been able to fly out?! Nevertheless, I am glad that I finally got to spend some time in our nation's capitol. Not only touring the major memorials and tourist attractions, but also learning so much about science policy.

So, my favorite touristy things? WWII Memorial, National Art Galleries, and Folger Shakespeare Library.

Favorite science policy educational talks? Definitely NAS and NIH

Biggest regret? Not making it to Vietnam Memorial or Jefferson Memorial, and not having more than 20 minutes to spend in the Folger Shakespeare Library.

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A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight

Two bloggers in D.C.!

Sarah rushed over right before we left on our shuttle to the airport, and I'm so glad we got to see her for a bit. Am also thankful that our flights left D.C. on Friday night, because the huge snowstorm that grounded all the planes hit the East Coast on Saturday. Hope all of you on the other coast are staying safe!

After arriving at home and sleeping for a consecutive 14 hours, I'm feeling much more refreshed, but also a bit sad that the week in D.C. has ended. For the photographer in me, the area is absolutely beautiful and I would love to visit again in the future. And as a scientist, I've learned much more information about the regulation and government policies behind the work that we're doing - and that there is a different field of science that we can explore beyond research in graduate school or elsewhere. Walking in a science wonderland has been amazing, but coming home is very much needed.

Now to sort through the hundreds of pictures I've taken...

So long, farewell, adieu to D.C.

Apologies to our dedicated readers for the delay of these posts! The internet connection was pretty shaky and I didn't know if things were loading on the server, because they certainly weren't loading on my laptop. I'm currently sitting at Dulles Airport, happily connected to their free wifi.

Where have we been? The comprehensive list is as follows: Wednesday was our free morning/noon, and many of us went to see the monuments and memorials. In the afternoon, we headed over to the Department of Energy to talk with Steve Koonin, who actually was at Caltech to give a talk earlier during this term. The National Academy of Sciences was next, and there were equations carved into the floor:

 

and where there was an amazing DNA staircase [extrapolate the double helix]...

 

and the equally amazing reflecting mirror.

 

Thursday was the busiest day, we woke up and had breakfast at 8 in order to get to NIH around 10:30. As Elaine wrote earlier, we met with Jim Battey who spoke to us about stem cell research and policy.

Group picture in front of the Supreme Court

 

The National Institutes of Health

After the NIH, we took the metro to the Metro Center for lunch, and then walked to AAAS for a meeting with Dan Poux and AAAS fellows who are Caltech alumni:

Off to the Pentagon! Five floors, five sections, five sides in a pentagon. Brilliant.

Dinner was on our own, so some of us ended up walking into Jaleo, an extremely popular Spanish restaurant and tapas bar. Might as well enjoy the last night in D.C., right?

 

Time to get daily exercise [as if we haven't walked enough over the past week already]!

We walked to the Jefferson Memorial over the Potomac River:

  

You can probably tell that I went very camera-happy on this trip...

The entire D.C. area is beautiful, and though the monuments trick you by being so huge that it seems that they're in line with each other and closer together than it seems, every trek was worth it.

As our Danish friends would say, farvel!

A Packed Day...

Firstly, pictures from yesterday:

 

In front of the capitol...

 Washington Memorial!

 A tree from the sculpture garden

 

With Jan Van Eyck's Annunciation
 
 
 Da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci

 

Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi
  

The Magna Carta!
 

Unfortunately, no time for tourism today! As soon as we finished breakfast we were out the door, headed to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). There we met with Dr Battey, Vice Chair of NIH's stem cell task force. He went over the new stem cell policy under the Obama Administration and the regulations for derivation and use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). For those of you who are unfamiliar with stem cell research, here's a brief overview. Human embryonic stem cells are immortal cell lines derived from fertilized human eggs, now known as a zygote. At the stage when the zygote is still a mass of identical cells, known as a trophoblast, the cells are harvested and used to create cell lines for use in research. Stem cells are useful because of their ability to differentiate into any type of cell in the human body. Clearly, the methods of obtaining human stem cells have ethical concerns and are quite controversial, resulting in this hot debate in science policy.

It was particularly interesting when the conversation turned to induced pluripotent stem cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were developed in 2007. Basically, an already differentiated cell from an adult human is injected with four genes with a virus. These four genes make the cell undifferentiate and become a stem cell again, which now has the ability to differentiate into one of many cell types. The methods for obtaining iPSCs are clearly much less ethically debatable than those for obtaining hESCs. However, iPSCs and hESCs have different capabilities and applications in research. 

The differences between the two cell types was something I never knew and I truly enjoyed the entire discussion. I've only gone over what I found most interesting here; I'm sure nobody's interested in the entirety of my barely legible notes.

Next was the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where we met with Daniel Poux. He explained some of the fellowships that AAAS provides in order to bridge science/technology and policy. We also got insight from some current fellows of the program: how they came to be involved in the program, what they've done so far, what they plan on doing afterward. It was great and we got information on many other science policy fellowships that we could explore after completing a PhD.

Today concluded with a visit to the Pentagon! This is the first time the DC Science Policy Trip has gone to the Pentagon, so it was an exciting experience. We got great views of the courtyard, saw Ground Zero Cafe, and were allowed to take pictures in front of a podium, with the Pentagon logo behind us. I think that's the one picture that everybody on the trip took. Inside the Pentagon we met with John Andelin, formerly with the Office of Technology Assessment, and Fay Peng, leader of the Biological Threat Reduction Program. Both were Caltech alumni and happy to share their experiences with us. We got a good overview of how each one ended up in Washington DC, their impressions of the system, and advice for getting into science policy.

Clearly, the entire day was full of educational fun! I may have focused on Battey's talk in this post, but that was just because it was the one that interested me the most. I have notes from all sessions, so if anybody's interested in hearing more about something, just leave a comment!

Tomorrow we look forward to meeting the Caltech lobbyist, Michael Ledford, and then flying home!

Not THAT Cold...

Looks like I won't be experiencing my first snowfall in DC. Most of yesterday was flying, which was about as interesting as a 5 hour flight can be. The thing that stands out most to me was the fact that there were no foot rests! Although we got to DC safe and sound, so I guess it's not too much of a loss.

We're staying in a Quaker hostel, and it's actually quite nice. We've rented out the entire house for these 4 days and there are enough beds, linens, bathrooms, plus a free breakfast every morning. The best part is that it's only about a 10 minute walk to the Capitol Building. We were able to go monument hopping immediately after the alumni dinner scheduled for Tuesday night.

It was fascinating talking to area alums and learning about what they did after Caltech. Having been through Caltech and pushed into the real world, I feel that they give valuable insight into what we should be trying to gain from our experience here. In particular, I remember one alum who cited a Caltech Y sponsored trip to Mexico as the reason for his interest in development as a career. 

Our monument hopping that night started as "Let's go to the Capital," became "Let's go to the Washington Monument," which soon turned into "Ooo World War II Memorial!" and finally "Lincoln Memorial's this close, it'd be such a shame to miss it." So we ended up walking the entire length of the National Mall in horrendously cold wind. Nevertheless, it was worth it. The memorials are beautiful at night, despite the light pollution blocking out all of the stars. Debbie probably posted all the pictures, but here is one of me in front of a building I wish we had the time to go into:

Hehe. And this morning was more tourism, of course. Highlights from the White House Visitor center, National Art Galleries, National Archives, and Air and Space Museum follow in tomorrow's post.

The afternoon and night consisted of visiting Steve Koonin at the Department of Energy, then Bill Colglazier and Mike Nelson at the National Academies of Science. Steve didn't have much time, but he was still able to give us a good overview of his job in advising politicians how to vote on science related programs. At NAS, Bill introduced the group to the history of NAS, its expansion, and the research reports that NAS members write and publish to educate both politicians and the public. Mike followed with his impressions of how the government works and a myriad of communication tips that apply not only when working in science policy, but also in daily interactions with people. 

Thus the past two days contained both touristy fun and policy education. Tomorrow is packed with AAAS, NIH, and a visit to the Pentagon. Can't wait, although I have concluded that I must come back to DC someday when I have time to spend one day in each separate museum. 

  
 

Monuments, Memorials, and Museums, Oh My!

My feet are telling me that they want a massage and a rest right now... 

I think I've walked at least 30 miles in the past 3 days. But it was all worth it:

William Penn House, the hostel where we're staying for the week

The Capitol in the daytime

White House [the line was too long.. so I took this on the other side of the street]

Washington Monument

WWII Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Smithsonian

Department of Energy!

On the walk back to the house:

TIme: 11 pm
Windchill: ridiculous
Happiness: infinite

Tomorrow's agenda: NIH, AAAS, and the Pentagon.

Bonne nuit!

D.C. After Dark - A Photoblog

As an amateur photographer, I find that pictures do indeed speak louder than words.

Day 1: Welcome to Dulles International Airport, and thank you for flying United.

 

Half an hour before our dinner with Caltech alumni, some of us took a stroll down to Capitol Hill [and it wasn't all that cold then]:

Photo credit to Soren Vind

After dinner, Elaine and I, along with Catherine and Kati, took a [much longer] ~5 mile walk and braved the wind chill to see the monuments at night.

Elaine and I in front of Capitol Hill

One of most gorgeous sights I've ever seen: WWII memorial at night

Reflection of the Washington Monument from the WWII memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument: The sky really was that color...

So the original plan was to wake up at 6:30 tomorrow morning to watch the sun rise over the monuments, but I'm not too sure if we can handle that right now. Tomorrow morning is a free day, and most of us are planning to visit monuments/memorials or the Smithsonian museums. In the afternoon, we're meeting with Steve Koonin in the Department of Energy and then having dinner with the National Academy of Science - Elaine coordinated these two meetings, and we'll be back tomorrow to tell you about our day!

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

I'm leavin' on a jet plane,

Don't know when I'll be back again

Vienna Teng - one of my favorite folk/pop artists - does a good cover of this song, originally by John Denver.

The lyrics are partially true because I actually don't know when I'll be back here, as I haven't booked my flight back in January yet.. should do that when I arrive home this weekend.

Having cycled through LOTR too many times to count [the same with Harry Potter; think of what you can do when snowed in at Lake Tahoe], I'm settling for this pretty little package that came in the mail this week:

Yes, girls can like Star Trek too.
Some of us also play WoW, but Elaine hasn't taught me yet.

Our last day here at Tech before the new decade consisted of shopping, shopping, and ... more shopping? And dinner at In-N-Out, of course, because it's only found in the western side of the States.

Hats, gloves, our wool coats and boots, sweaters, and all sorts of warm weather gear for the east coast. Supposedly, the nighttime temperature here is the daytime temperature in D.C.: we'll update you on that one once we get there in less than 24 hours. Our shuttle leaves the Caltech Y at 5:30 am [yes, you read that time right] and we'll be at our place of stay, the William Penn House, at around 4 pm tomorrow.

Our plan for tonight is to pack, and then grab breakfast at IHOP [one of the only places nearby that's open 24 hours] at 4 before getting to the Y at 5. The general itinerary for the week is as follows:

Tuesday: Dinner with Caltech almuni
Wednesday: Monuments/Memorials/Museums Hopping, Department of Energy, NAS
Thursday: NIH, AAAS, The Pentagon
Friday: Breakfast with Michael Ledford, Lobbyist

The next time you hear from us, we'll be on the other coast.

À Bientôt!

From Finals to Shopping to Washington DC!

Hi everyone! Debbie and I are incredibly excited for our DC Science Policy Trip to start, although we need to prepare and pack first. I've been in Southern California all my life, so I know I am not ready to deal with the harsh temperatures of the East Coast. We plan on spending an entire day shopping on Monday, just for the four days we will be in DC. (We need an excuse to spend our paychecks, after all!) At the moment finals have just ended, so we're all just trying to relax.

Let me tell you about the trip in the meantime. The annual DC Science Policy trip is sponsored by the Caltech Y. The Caltech Y is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to enrich the lives of Caltech students, website can be found here. Throughout the year, the Y organizes social, community service, activism, and cultural events. The events we have depend on what the student Executive Committee (ExComm) is interested in, because we are the ones who come up with and lead the ideas. 

 Caltech Y ExComm, Spring 2009

Some events, such as Make A Difference (MAD) Day, the DC Science Policy Trip, Decompression, and Alternative Spring Break, are scheduled to happen at least annually. They just require a student leader to step up and take charge! I can elaborate on more Y events at a later date if requested, but let's stay on topic for now.

So the goal of the DC Science Policy trip is to expose a group of 20-25 Caltech undergrad and graduate students to the ins and outs of working in science policy. At a research university like Caltech, across the country from the nation's capital, we normally wouldn't get much of an insider look at science in the government. Debbie and I, who participate in leading many Y events, signed up to lead this trip back in the beginning of term. Most of the hotel and flight information is repeated from previous years; what we got to do is pick out and contact the guest speakers we would be meeting with in DC! It's a very exciting list we've gathered this year, and includes Steve Koonin, Undersecretary of Science, and Mike Nelson, the former science Advisor to VP Al Gore. 

More to come later! For now, time to release all my worries from the term...with a full day Lord of the Rings Special Extended Edition DVD Marathon!