NSE - Nuclear Science & Engineering at MIT

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MIT fusion science students advocate for fusion funding with Congress

MIT fusion science students

Eleven MIT fusion science students scheduled and met with over 26 Senate and House offices on June 14th. They expressed concern over legislation in the Senate Appropriations Committee that threatens funding for the domestic fusion program, including the shutdown and dismantling of the Alcator C-Mod tokamak at MIT and significant reductions in support for U.S. fusion graduate students and post-docs. Fusion grad student Zach Hartwig, who helped organize the trip, characterized the meetings as "extremely productive but only the first steps in a longer-term advocacy effort in support of the fusion energy sciences." Bipartisan support for the domestic fusion program was expressed by staff from numerous Senate offices, including Massachusetts Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Brown (R-MA) who have previously written letters of support for fusion and have agreed to continue working with the fusion community on the issue. The MIT students attending the congressional visits spoke of the preparation and meetings as a terrific learning experience in science advocacy and an insightful glimpse into the politics of federally funded science.

The MIT students Harold Barnard (NSE, G), Dan Brunner (NSE, G),Evan Davis (Physics, G),Ian Faust (NSE, G), Mike Garrett (Aero-Astro, G), Christian Haakonsen (NSE, G), Zach Hartwig (NSE, G), Nathan Howard (NSE, G), Bob Mumgaard (NSE, G), Brandon Sorbom (NSE, G), and John Walk (NSE, G), were joined by undergraduate Taylor Ratliff from UT Austin who is involved in fusion research on Alcator C-Mod.

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Photo left to right: Ian Faust, Dan Brunner, Harold Barnard, Mike Garrett, Bob Mumgaard, Zach Hartwig, John Walk, Brandon Sorbom, Evan Davis