Raleigh Martin Named 2019-2020 AGI Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellow

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) congratulates Raleigh Martin on his selection as the 2019-2020 William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellow. The Fisher Fellowship offers geoscientists the unique opportunity to spend a year in Washington, D.C., working as a staff member in the office of a member of Congress or with a congressional committee.

Martin is an Earth-surface process geoscientist interested in enabling open knowledge, data, and policy in the geosciences. Prior to serving as the 2019-2020 William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellow, he completed an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellowship in the Directorate for Geosciences at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). At NSF, Martin helped to allocate infrastructure investments and refine public access policies to advance geoscience research discovery through improved data access and reuse.

“As America faces seemingly overwhelming issues like climate change and resource sustainability, the expertise of geoscientists is more important than ever,” said Martin. “Through the Fisher Fellowship, I will be in a position to strengthen the role of the geosciences in addressing these societal challenges, by increasing the productivity of the geoscience research enterprise and building pipelines that put scientific knowledge into practice.”

“Our understanding of science policy is often focused on what science can tell decisionmakers to make them better informed,” said AGI Executive Director Allyson Anderson Book. “Raleigh’s emphasis on optimizing the way the science enterprise works offers a refreshing perspective that you don’t hear as often.”

Previously, Martin was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied wind-driven sediment transport shapes coastal and desert sand dunes and generates atmospheric dust. Martin earned a B.S.E. in Geological Engineering from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Geology at the University of Pennsylvania, where his doctoral research focused on understanding the statistical variability of sediment transport and geomorphology in rivers.

Each year, AGI’s Fisher Fellow joins more than two dozen other scientists and engineers for an intensive orientation program organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which guides the placement process and provides educational and collegial programs throughout the year. Learn more at https://bit.ly/AGI-CSF.