Picture taken at the ESAL booth during the AGU's 2024 annual meeting
Engineers & Scientists Acting Locally (ESAL) is transforming the way STEM professionals engage with their communities. Despite the challenges faced by scientists like time constraints and uncertainty about how to get involved, ESAL tackles this with storytelling, educational resources, and actionable tools like their Local Engagement Checklist. This blog aims to inspire our community in Europe to adopt similar approaches and recognises the untapped potential of STEM expertise in driving local change. When I learned about ESAL, I was impressed with the work they do to help scientists and engineers overcome barriers, act locally, and shape a brighter, more inclusive future. Today I am sitting with Gwendolyn Bogard at the Walter E. Convention Center while attending AGU’S 2025 Annual Meeting. Gwendolyn is on the Workshops Team, which hosts hands-on workshops for groups interested in local engagement. She is also the Senior Government Relations Officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where she focuses on national policy making.
Thank you so much for agreeing to have this interview with me, Gwendolyn! I know things are very busy this week so I appreciate you taking the time for this. To kick off this interview, I want to start by asking you about ESAL’s focus on empowering STEM professionals to engage in their local communities. Why is this grassroots approach so transformative?
An immense amount of policy and decision-making happens at the local level, and it provides STEM professionals opportunities to have a tangible impact on issues that connect directly to their own communities. Plus, having scientists and engineers show up in these spaces is an important part of building public trust in science and working toward evidence-informed policy making.
Many STEM professionals feel their expertise is limited to their fields. How does ESAL help them realise their capacity to influence civic life, and how could this mindset shift inspire a similar movement in Europe?
Scientists and engineers don’t exist in a bubble; they’re community members and have a stake in what’s happening locally. What’s more, they have a lot to offer to policymakers! STEM practitioners are trained to think critically and solve problems, which means that they’re well equipped to think through issues, even ones that aren’t in their STEM wheelhouse. In addition, serving as a subject matter expert and someone who can translate technical information can be a huge help to local governments that are often under-resourced and rely on volunteer work to research, craft, and execute policy. ESAL has a range of resources designed to lower the barrier for scientists and engineers to get involved locally, even on non-STEM issues. Our resources range from toolkits that walk people through engagement activities step-by-step, to topical blogs, and hands-on workshops.
Beyond technical expertise, what personal and professional skills do engineers and scientists need to succeed in civic engagement?
One of the biggest differences between the STEM and policy-making communities is the way we communicate about data. Scientists tend to dive deep into the background information prior to explaining their conclusion, but policy makers rarely have time or bandwidth to sort through a bunch of information, so it’s much more effective to present a summary of your policy “ask” up front, instead of starting with a lot of background information.
Second, it’s important to remember that data isn’t prescriptive. This means that two people who have different sets of values and priorities can look at the same piece of scientific information and arrive at two different policy solutions.
Third, persistence is key.
At ESAL, we like to say that decisions are made by those who show up. Change takes time, especially on a community and government level, so key parts of the process are continuing to show up, develop relationships, and build trust over time.
Picture taken at the ESAL booth during the 2025 AGU annual meeting
ESAL emphasises diversity in civic participation. Why is this essential for impactful engagement, and how might European efforts ensure inclusion from the start?
Policy impacts ripple outward across communities, so it’s incredibly important in the decision-making process to hear directly from those affected. It can be easy to overlook policy effects outside of your own lived experience, so it adds an important dimension to the policy making process to have people in the room who might be affected differently or have varying perspectives due to their identity—that could mean socioeconomic class, race, education level, field of work, etc.
Ensuring those perspectives are included and heard can be tough if policy makers and advocates don’t already have connections and trust from the community. In addition, systemic barriers still exist that make it hard for everyone to participate in decision-making; for example, it’s not feasible for everyone to attend a city council meeting that happens at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday. It takes time to build trust and a willingness to engage, so I think it’s important to dedicate time and effort to tap into local networks, consider who is missing from the discussion, and work to create accessible avenues for engagement.
Could you share a story where an ESAL member made a meaningful difference in their community? How might similar stories inspire European STEM professionals?
One of my favourite stories is of two ESAL volunteers who were PhD students at Rice University who got deep into transportation policy in Texas. One was a cyclist commuter, and there were two cyclist deaths at an intersection near campus. They started attending city council meetings, making comments about their concerns, and getting to know other groups passionate about this subject. They also did some research on crosswalk timing at the intersection, and based on that, they developed recommendations on roadway design, signage, and signal timing. By combining their research knowledge with engagement with local groups, they were able to convince the local government to update the intersection to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians. This is such a great example of a local issue that could be informed by science! The students’ legwork and dedication led to improvements to their community that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I think it can serve as a blueprint for anyone interested in getting involved in their community, even if the government structures and issues aren’t exactly the same country to country. Here’s a
link to an interview with the students on the ESAL website.
What message would you like to share with STEM professionals in Europe who are hesitant or unsure about their ability to contribute to local civic engagement?
If you feel strongly about a particular issue or would like to get involved, that’s enough—you don’t need to be a magnificent public speaker or an expert on every issue. As a member of your community, you already bring a ton of useful experience. The rest is just time and practice. You won’t be perfect at the beginning, but again, decisions are made by those who show up, and I encourage everyone to take that first step to show up for their community.
Asmae Ourkiya (They/Them) is the Media and Communications Officer at EGU. They manage press releases, coordinate press participation and the press centre at the EGU General Assembly, and write and manage the EGU blogs.
Asmae holds a Ph.D. in queer intersectional ecofeminism from MIC, University of Limerick in Ireland. Their research revolves around climate justice, and promotes inclusion and equality in climate governance.
