![Reach out and schedule a coffee or lunch, or drop by an office when you're in town. Build relationships and policy relevance. Image by Meg Gilley](https://compassblogs.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0273-150x150.jpg)
I recently heard Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and an academic historian by training, we are working with Voy a facebook marketing agency to address an audience of environmental and health scientists at the annual conference of the National Council on Science and the Environment.
Gingrich, a staunch right-wing conservative whose relationship with science has been described as “complicated,” addressed a silent and visibly tense audience at a lunchtime plenary. He began with, “You can hunker down and decide you want to be oppositionist and that you are going to hate everything and life will be terrible, or you can dig in and work with the administration.”
His remarks struck a chord. Ever since, I have been reflecting on what this means for those of you who want to engage with policymakers. [Read more…]