From February 16-20th, 2017 IGERT Fellow Destenie Nock attended the AAAS conference in Boston. Destenie wrote the following about her experience at the conference: "While attending the conference I was able to hear from John Holdren who was the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). During this talk he explained how the presidential office prioritized efforts to mitigate climate change. He also spoke on what he thought would be the shift in focus under the new administration, and some of the steps scientists could take to influence policy decisions. I found this talk, and the one by Sylvester James Gates who served on former President Barack Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, to be very valuable in terms of understanding the impact energy policy will have on the future of offshore wind energy. The AAAS conference to be a very valuable and rewarding experience in terms of understanding how my research can be used to impact policy."