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The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is pleased to announce that Shyla Cooks and Karl Palmquist have been selected as the 2021 AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award (EPPLA) recipients. The EPPLA recognizes graduate students in the biological sciences who are demonstrating an interest and aptitude for working at the intersection of science and policy.
Shyla Cooks is a master s student in bioscience and health policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas. After serving in the United States Navy for four years, she worked as a 7th and 8th grade science teacher for two years under the Teach for America program, which is dedicated to addressing educational inequities in low-income areas. She continues to teach science at the School of Science and Technology a charter school in Houston, Texas while enrolled in full-time coursework. Cooks is active in her professional community as a member of the Rice Science Policy Network, the Doerr Institute for New Leade