AGU's Congressional Science Fellow Vivian Pan said that it was her interest in science education that inspired her to apply for the AGU fellowship.  Not enough students are interested in science, she says, adding that she hopes her experience on the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs will enable her to work toward making changes in this area.

Pan applied for the fellowship last February and was interviewed by AGU's Public Affairs Committee at the 1991 Spring Meeting.  She also made a presentation to the committee on women and minorities in science.  Her advice to future canidates is to "let the committee know you are sensitive to political issues."

After being selected as AGU's 1991 Congressional Fellow, Pan attended an orientation for all Fellows sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science where she was given information on what committees wanted to work with a Fellow.  She was responsible for contacting them and spent about 3 weeks last summer interviewing with various congressional offices.

Pan says that most Fellows who are part of the AAAS program do land the Hill jobs they want, and she was placed in her office in mid-October.  Personal offices of congressional members have "more need for free labor and more requests for Fellows," Pan says, than do congressional committee staffs such as the one she works for.  As for the work itself, it takes about 1 or 2 months for a Fellow to learn what his or her responsibilities are.  "It's like doing a thesis," she says, in the sense that no one told her what she should be doing.  Another hurdle was learning "Hill-speak," which employs "GSA" not to refer to the Geological Society of America, but rather the General Services Administration, she points out.  Former Fellows emphasized to her the importance of securing office space near the committee for which she works, so that she is involved in the committee's routine.

In general, Pan advises prospective Fellows to keep up on current events and read very widely.  "Make sure that the issues you are interested in will be addressed in the upcoming Congress," she says.

Pan made it clear that her role on the Hill is not as a lobbyist for AGU.  Her only responsibility to AGU is to write two articles for Eos on her work on Capitol Hill.

Pan's background is in geochemistry and experimental petrology.  She received her B.A. in chemistry and geology from the State University of New York at Binghamton and an M.Ph. and Ph.D. in geology and geophysics from Yale University.  She was a faculty research associate and a post-doctoral research associate at the Department of Geology at Arizona State University.

After completing the AGU fellowship in August, Pan hopes to become involved in some aspect of science education or government affairs.

Vivian Pan, AGU Congressional Science Fellow, 1991-1992

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