First Full Day of Autumn

Good evening all,

I finally got my blog together, meager as it is, to share some of my experiences throughout my time here in DC. I am here in DC (actually living in the Commonwealth of VA, not in the District) as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator. If you don't already know the whole story about the Einstein Fellowship program, you can learn more at: http://trianglecoalition.org/ein.htm

I am specifically working at the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). I will probably start using these acronyms in my blogs, so you know. The lion's share of the Fellows are here in Arlington at the National Science Foundation (NSF), working in various programs. There's a Fellow at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Admin (NOAA) and one at NASA. The remaining Fellows are on the Hill, one working on a committee and the other three with senators or representatives.

I love my journey to work most days. The subway (Metro) is a novelty still at this point, so that's enjoyable. When I come up out of the subway I am a block from work, which is across the street from the Smithsonian castle. I walked down the street last week to have lunch at the Air and Space Museum. Good times.

But what am I doing here in DC? I am working to affect change in STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at the national level and to be a sponge and learn all I can about what is already being done in regards to STEM education. There is SO MUCH going on here. I go to meetings and luncheons, seminars and conferences all the time. I imagine if I don't start turning invites down that I could spend my year just doing that. But back at EERE I am working on helping them better organize the education materials to which they link and to sort the good from the not-so-useful. But more of my time is being steered towards a larger picture of assisting in crafting a K-12 message and strategy. In short, there is a HUGE future in both the EE and the RE sides of energy in this future. There is much being done to bolster the undergrad, grad and post-doc 'pipeline' of getting folks into the workforce that will be needed in this country's energy future. Currently there's not a lot being done at the K-12 level, or what is being done is scattered and not as effective as it could be. I will spend much of my time working helping to craft their 'message' and to help find the avenues through which to most effectively reach the greatest number of educators and students.

The Secretary of Education, Dr. Steven Chu, has a goal, one I think is a pretty good one. It is to have 10 million energy literate youth by 2012. I'm asking around to see if anyone has a definition as to what is meant by 'energy literate'. No firm answers yet. So I'll leave you with this question for tonight: What do you think 'energy literate' means?

Hopefully it's not as muggy where you are and you won't need AC to sleep. Until next time...