Ana Unruh Cohen at the Summer Undergraduate Research Conference at Trinity

Science has been good for Ana Unruh Cohen, and she has been good for science. As Trinity’s first Rhodes Scholar, Cohen ’96 strives to make science relevant to the public and to policymakers. Currently the senior policy adviser to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming, she agreed to be the keynote speaker in late July at the Summer Undergraduate Research Conference at Trinity. The program involved more than 100 students from a range of science fields who spent 10 weeks participating in research on the Trinity campus.

She almost didn’t make it because of scheduling conflicts on House testimony about global warming, her area of expertise. But a hearing was postponed and she as able to speak with the young scientists.

 She had three main points.

• First, Cohen urged student scientists not to be afraid to accept unusual professions or explore other options that might present themselves. “My path wasn’t clear to me when I started out. But it has been rewarding,” said the former Corpus Christi-area resident. 
  
  
• Second, she repeated a phrase she heard early in her “political science” career – “Politics trumps substance.” Sounding initially like a harsh phrase, Cohen said the reality is that politics is the way Americans integrate their values and economics into society. Now, she sees the mingling of science with politics as a challenge. “We have to work hard to make substance politically relevant.”
  
  
• Third, she said American scientists have an obligation to communicate about science, which is often financially supported by government. Further, she said, scientists have a duty to give back to the community.

She lives out these views by working to help the public understand how the process of science works. She and her husband have co-authored opinion pieces for the Washington Post on science issues and they support “green” causes in the Washington D.C. area.  

Cohen earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Trinity and holds a doctorate in geochemistry from Oxford University. From there she accepted a science and technology fellowship through an American Association for the Advancement of Science program that sends young scientists to Capitol Hill. She was assigned to the office of U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. He hired her fulltime from 2001-2004. When she left, she took the position of  director of environmental policy at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan research and educational institute. Markey was tapped by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to chair the select committee. He asked Cohen to serve as a policy adviser on global warming issues confronting Congress and the public.   

Next up for Cohen: she has been named Trinity’s Outstanding Young Alumna for 2007-2008, an honor much deserved.

© 2007 Trinity University