Stories

We open the September issue of the Civic Science Series with insights from Dan Pomeroy, Co-Director of the Scientific Citizenship Initiative (SCi), on the role of graduate education and training in catalyzing civic science systems change. 

Looking out the window of a downtown Washington, D.C., restaurant, I watched the sunset fade, and with it, my hope. Earlier that day, I had interviewed for the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship, dreaming of the chance to apply my fresh Ph.D. training to the work of Congress. The committee had said the selected candidate would receive a call by the end of the day. Aside from an appreciated check‑in from my mom, the phone stayed silent.

Months later, I learned that I’d bombed the interview. The reason was simple: As a newly minted physicist, I believed science provides all the answers and had little understanding of the role science actually plays in solving societal challenges.

I successfully reapplied the following year, and during the Fellowship, I saw how wrong I had been. Science is powerful, but it’s only one voice in the democratic process. Effective policies do not come from experts acting alone, but from coalitions built on listening, trust, and collaboration. That lesson reshaped my career and eventually led me to co‑found the Scientific Citizenship Initiative (SCi).

SCi is a nonprofit organization that advances civic science by equipping scientists to partner with communities in co‑creating just and equitable solutions to urgent challenges. We train skills like active listening and ethical reasoning, place scientists directly into service roles, and help institutions launch their own civic science programs. Since 2020, we’ve trained hundreds of scientists, and we’ve seen how these connections transform both sides. Trainees often say the experience reaffirms the kind of scientist they want to be, and their contributions have informed state legislation, strengthened community organizations, and shaped education programs on climate, energy, and health.

Recently, the National Academy of Sciences invited me to share this perspective by authoring a landscape analysis of STEMM graduate education reform for a summit on “Reimagining STEMM Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Career Development.” Conversations at the event completely aligned with the two major takeaways from my paper: There is a dedicated community working hard to reform a broken system, yet we’re still largely training scientists for an outdated model that no longer serves society or scientists themselves.

For example, the summit’s opening keynote highlighted the need for career training efforts, with data indicating that as few as 14 percent of Ph.D. students transition directly into tenure-track roles. A panel of students fighting for the right to unionize emphasized the fact that 40 percent of graduate students report working over 50 hours per week, and nearly half cite work-life balance as a top challenge. Additionally, the deep anxiety over declining federal support for science felt intimately connected to declining public confidence in U.S. higher education, which reached a historic low last year.

Throughout the summit, I kept returning to the same idea: Civic science offers a more promising path. It equips scientists to listen and collaborate across differences, broadens their career options, prepares them to address urgent challenges like AI and climate change, and to forge deeper partnerships with communities. Most importantly, it helps rebuild trust by ensuring science truly serves the public good.

We are in a moment when the structures of science and academia face existential pressures forcing them to undergo radical change. Yet disruption can also create space for reflection. What would a truly socially responsive scientific enterprise look like if we were starting with a blank slate? And what coalitions will be needed when the opportunity to rebuild arrives? I know I find hope every time I close my eyes and imagine the possibilities. I hope that you will too. 

Dan Pomeroy is Co-Director of the Scientific Citizenship Initiative (SCi).