Mary Schultz '12 was recently selected to be the 2017-2018 William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellow. Mary will begin her fellowship in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 1, 2017, after receiving her Ph.D. in geological sciences from Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., on June 14, 2017.
Mary's doctoral research focuses on understanding the past 20-million-year climatic and tectonic evolution of the Mount Everest region in the central Himalayan Mountains using a combination of fieldwork, thermochronological dating of minerals, and numerical modeling methods. With an avid passion for public engagement and teaching, she has participated in various science outreach events offered at Arizona State University and recently embraced the opportunity to co-teach an introductory geology course for high school students in the Phoenix area.
The William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellowship offers geoscientists the unique opportunity to spend 12 months in Washington, D.C., working as a staff member in the office of a member of Congress or with a congressional committee. Every year, the fellow joins more than two dozen other scientists and engineers for an intensive orientation program on the legislative and executive branches, organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which also guides the placement process and provides educational and collegial programs throughout the year.