TLDR: SNAPStart, the new sci pol student org mini-grant program has officially launched, apply today! We will host our next Webinar on July 22nd, “Engaging Policymakers Through Interactive Simulations!” Check out upcoming SNAP events on our community calendar. Make sure to follow our Medium blog for the latest articles by SNAPpers, and join Stance on Science!

McClintock Letters: One Year Later

Thank you again to those of you who supported the McClintock Letters initiative last year. For those of you who may not know, this initiative was a main coalescing force for SNAP itself, and we ended up enabling the publication of over 200 pieces in local newspapers across the country in which scientists communicated their work to their neighbors and hometowns, reaching tens of thousands of people who may not have otherwise been exposed to cutting-edge research and its importance.

The strides we made in public awareness of ongoing research and community-building among scientists and the public cannot be overstated, earning us the Research!America Meeting the Moment for Public Health Award and dozens of national and international press appearances, and we are so grateful for everyone who spread the word and participated. The success of this project, fueled by collective participation across the scientific community, has afforded SNAP access to platforms and spaces that we may not otherwise have been invited to as such a young organization, and we strive to use our influence for the good of the community.

Several SNAPpers have spearheaded a new science journalism project in partnership with local newspapers developing a model for community-oriented science communication to carry on the mission of the McClintock Letters. Visit the Innovations in Science website to learn more, support, or get involved!

SNAPStart: Mini-Grant Program for New SciPol Orgs

Does your university have a science policy club? If not, now’s your chance to start one! We are thrilled to launch our new program, SNAPStart, granting up to $1000 for newly formed or recently revived student science policy groups. Click here for more information, and here to apply!

SNAPStart seed grant program flyer

“Engaging Policymakers Through Interactive Simulations,” a webinar with Katherine Markova

Please join us to learn about interactive simulations as a method of engaging policymakers. The webinar will be led by Katherine Markova, from a nonprofit Climate Interactive and MIT Climate Pathways Project. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves, this session will be interactive! Please register here!

Engaging Policymakers Through Interactive Simulations webinar flyer

SNAP Blog - Science Policy in a SNAP

You can access our blog, Science Policy in a SNAP, on our website or give us a follow on Medium, where you’ll hear from a variety of SNAP member voices on diverse science and science-policy topics.

Earlier this month, SNAPper Sol Taylor-Brill published a thoughtful piece titled “Bias In, Bias Out: The responsibility of researchers to use AI with caution,” which you can read here. You can also check out “The Past Is Our Present: A History of America’s Complicated Relationship with Science” by SNAPpers Shreya Venkatesh, Daniel Affsprung, and Andrew Mattson, here.

Be sure to follow us on Medium to read the upcoming pieces!

Have an idea for a post? Contact us and let us know.

Stance on Science

Stance on Science participants are asking science policy-related questions of candidates running in local, state, and national races during the 2026 elections. State teams have started to develop their questionnaires, plan candidate outreach, and set up town halls in their communities. This is a great time to get involved and make sure science policy issues important to your community are included as teams begin to contact campaigns, especially with primaries approaching and underway in many states!

Check out responses we’ve already received from candidates in California, Colorado, and Maryland at the Stance on Science website.

We still need volunteers! If you’re interested in helping out as a state lead or a volunteer, fill out this sign-up form. Please forward this email to others you know in these states who might be interested:

  • Arkansas
  • Florida
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Nevada
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • West Virginia
  • Wyoming

Don’t see your state in the list above? That means you get to join an active team! The more people we have from as many districts in as many states as possible, the broader the reach of the initiative, so please sign up! Reach out to snapscipolorg@gmail.com with any questions.

SNAP Podcast

SNAP has just finished recording and is gearing up to post the inaugural episode in the coming month! The episode will be centered around interviews with SNAPpers and the wide variety of interests within the science policy sphere. Stay tuned!

SciPol Course

SNAP is developing a modular science policy curriculum covering topics such as What is Science Policy?, How Government Works, Writing for Policymakers, Science Communication & Public Speaking, and Science Diplomacy. Final curriculum expected Fall 2026! Need a module sooner for your science policy group? Reach out to snapscipolorg@gmail.com.

SciPol Hackathon

Be on the lookout, SNAP’s SciPol Hackathon is coming to a university near you! This project will be piloted this summer and rolled out across the country later in fall semester.

This project-focused initiative will bring together early-career researchers to work in interdisciplinary teams over three days to create a science-policy technical product, a multimedia piece, or a written output.

Sign up and submit project ideas here!

Friends and Family for Scientists (Mini) Initiative: Responding to the OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule

Invite community stakeholders, friends, and family to respond to the changes to federal funding proposed by the Office of Management and Budget (Docket OMB-2026-0034). The proposed rule would lead to substantive changes in federal funding for science along with many other areas of public impact. Following SNAP’s webinar, “Crafting a Public Comment: Understanding the Proposed OMB Rule,” with Allie Cashel from Protect Democracy, we wanted to a) provide an overview of the proposed changes for those outside of the science community and b) offer a resource for writing public comments on this rule.

Access the one pager here to share with concerned community members or others who may be impacted by the proposed rules! While these were created for a broad audience, if you have any contacts for non-scientist stakeholders (e.g., patient advocacy groups) who would benefit from a more tailored resource, reach out to snapscipolorg@gmail.com with the subject line, “OMB Proposed Rule Stakeholder Contact” to discuss a more targeted one-pager.

SNAP Retreat

On June 20-21, 50 SNAP members convened in Washington, DC to discuss the future of SNAP, brainstorm new initiatives, and more! This meeting was both amazingly productive and amazingly fun, and has laid the foundation for the work SNAP will be doing well into the future. More updates to come from the retreat conversations soon!

SNAP members at the June 2026 retreat in Washington, DC

External Opportunities

Fellowships and Jobs

Events

Resources and Opportunities

  • New federal science impact tracker called The Cost of Cutting American Science
    • Combines data and storytelling to illustrate the federal government’s essential role in advancing U.S. health and science and highlights what’s at stake as agencies face significant reductions. Significant impacts highlighted include:
      • A 24% decrease in project grant funding from science agencies between fiscal 2024 and 2025.
      • A loss of more than 117,000 employees working in federal science agencies between September 2024 and February 2026, accounting for 41% of the total federal workforce reduction during that period.
      • Spending cuts were steepest in environmental research and innovation project grants, down 78.9%.
  • Registration is now open for the Writing for Impact & Influence course offered this fall by American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).
  • SNAPpers JP Flores and Emma Courtney (Co-Founders of Science For Good) are actively recruiting for SCORSU, the STEM Career Outlook Research Study on Undergraduates, a national research study exploring how recent shifts in federal science policy are shaping the attitudes, aspirations, and experiences of undergraduate students interested in STEM research careers. The survey can be found here.
  • Postdoc talk submissions open for AAAS 2027 conference due August 4th
  • Silvopasture Scientific Illustration Competition entries due July 15th
  • AAAS/Arizona State University Prize for Transformational Impact applications due August 15th
  • Call to papers for Ethics and Policy in Neurotech for JMIR

DID YOU KNOW? SNAP hosts a community calendar where you can find these events and more!

Want to see your events shared with the SNAP community? Shoot us an email at snapscipolorg@gmail.com, and we will get it posted!

✨SNAPper Highlights and Achievements ✨

Check out these recent works by SNAP members and works mentioning SNAP members or initiatives!

  • SNAPpers have published a paper chronicling our work in BioScience! Check it out here and listen to the podcast about the article here.
  • SNAPpers Miles Arnett and Emma Scales and their work with SNAP were recently featured in Scientific American for their Young Scientists issue! Have a read here.
  • Congrats to Olivia Asher and David Ramotowski for successfully defending their dissertations this month!
  • Erin Cullinane was accepted into the American Society of Human Genetics ACGT program for the 2026-2027 cohort. Read more about the program here.
  • David Ramotowski was accepted into the West Virginia Science and Technology Policy Fellowship Program for the 2026-2027 cohort.
  • Amanda Finn was accepted into the Rita Allen Civic Science Fellowship at Boston University starting in September.

Know someone who’d like to receive this newsletter? Have them join our Google Group Listserv. Email snapscipolorg@gmail.com with questions about SNAP or if you’d like to join our Slack.