Where are they now? Meet Kate Stoll

Former FOSEP leaders pursue diverse careers at the intersection of science and society. FOSEP attracts graduate students and postdocs who are passionate about connecting scientific discovery and the use of new knowledge for the benefit of society. Nearly all credit FOSEP for influencing  their career choices, which span a wide range of fields and sectors. A series of posts will highlight the career paths of former FOSEP leaders.

Kate Stoll, Ph.D. is currently an AAAS Science & Technology Fellow in the Division of Graduate Education at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia.

Kate Stoll joined FOSEP in 2007 and was co-director of the Seattle chapter from 2008 – 2011. She currently serves as a member of the advisory committee for the national FOSEP effort. Stoll earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry in December 2010 from the University of Washington, where she studied the Breast Cancer Associated Protein, BRCA1. Yet Stoll was drawn to FOSEP to learn more about issues that she was reading about in the news, from climate change to K-12 science education. She was thrilled to discover kindred spirits when she joined FOSEP in 2007. Her first FOSEP leadership experience was as co-organizer of a science communication workshop for scientists, in collaboration with the Pacific Science Center. One of the highlights of her tenure as co-director was as lead organizer of a public forum on US energy policy. Stoll recalls, “I got really excited when I was preparing this forum. I loved it. I was doing lab work simultaneously of course, but every hour that I had free, I was learning about energy policy and working on the forum. It was really fun for me.” The forum was a great success, attracting several hundred people from the greater Seattle area.

Stoll recently moved to from Seattle to Washington, DC as a 2011-2012 AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, where she is helping to shape science and education policy at the National Science Foundation. "FOSEP gave me the opportunity to meet and collaborate with an amazing team of peers on really meaningful issues. More than any other experience, FOSEP helped me to prepare me for my transition to science policy." In her position at the Division of Graduate Education, Stoll hopes that she can help other Ph.D. students to prepare for successful careers, just as FOSEP prepared her.