RELP Testimonials
2015
Jennifer Hartle
Cohort Year: 2015
This week has been a game changer. Coming here changed my perspective about how to solve problems, and helped me see where my environmental health work fits into the overall environmental puzzle. I look forward to taking what I learned to push for solutions inside and outside of my department.
Jeremy Hsu
Cohort Year: 2015
Its been an incredible opportunity to examine the breadth of how science and policy interact."
Kate Lewis
Cohort Year: 2015
Gave me an inside perspective on how DC feels, and I wouldn't have gotten that otherwise. Now I am exposed to a lot more opportunities.
2014
Stephen Comello
Business
Cohort Year: 2014
"DC Bootcamp performed beyond my expectations, challenging my assumptions, shedding new light on policy formation, and building the foundations for strong relationships, both with the leaders with whom weve engaged and my cohort of fellows. From the diverse and engaging skill-building opportunities from before Bootcamp, to Bootcamp itself, and onward to future programs planned for the cohort, the Woods team is outstanding, professional, incredibly dedicated. I have nothing but praise and gratitude for them and this transformational experience."
James Flanagan
Chemistry
Humanities and Sciences
Cohort Year: 2014
"Impressive and extensive agenda and program exploring the interaction between government agencies, think tanks, advocates, academics and Congress. I think such an insight could only be gained by such an immersive experience in DC. With the number and diversity of incredible people Ive met during the RELP experience, week, Ive greatly developed my leadership and communication skills - especially important for a chemist like myself, as chemistry essentially has a language of its own!"
George Korir
Medicine and Bioengineering
Medicine
Cohort Year: 2014
"The program was extremely rewarding and enriching on multiple fronts: the speaker panels were absolutely outstanding! I also really enjoyed spending time with other RELPers and getting to know them better. I look forward to our friendships developing even beyond the program.
I felt that for the first time, I got a sense of how DC works, and how policy is generally implemented at the national level. I came out of the experience a changed person, more acutely aware of the importance of effective communication and a expanded outlook of global challenges rooted in changes to the environment. Moving forward, I feel better equipped to address challenges to health and wellness in developing countries with a more systemic viewpoint and additional ways through which I can actively share my work effectively with policy makers to help drive positive change. I felt inspired to immediately start taking action and not wait until I am done with my studies."
Nina Overgaard Therkildsen
Biology
Humanities and Sciences
Cohort Year: 2014
The DC Bootcamp was an amazing week. And the year-round programs with our cohort have helped build my leadership and communication skills. One of the most rewarding aspects of the program was the opportunity to hear insightful personal perspectives from such a broad array of engaging speakers who work in various capacities within policy. These personal accounts gave me a much better understanding of how the policy process operates and how I can work to make my science more useful for decision-makers in the future.
Sebastien Tilmans
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Engineering
Cohort Year: 2014
"Spending Thursday morning attending two congressional hearings was amazing because it allowed me to synthesize all the information I had learned over the week while witnessing the government at work. It was tremendously rewarding because I realized how well RELP had trained me to analyze the dynamics in the room and better understand what was going on. It's too easy to view DC as a town full of doctrinaires and obstructionists. I was consistently struck with the realism of the people we met, and their eagerness to get things done. I'm far more optimistic about the government than I was previously. I learned more about how the government really works in one week at RELP than I did in all my years growing up in the DC area. A truly revelatory experience."
2013
Subhan Ali
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Engineering
Cohort Year: 2013
"I would unequivocally give the Rising Environmental Leaders program (RELP) an A++ and consider it to be one of the BEST programs I've participated in at Stanford. RELP is a high-caliber leadership development program that trains the very best emerging environmental scholars to successfully communicate their research to a wide audience and how to enrich and leverage their professional networks in order to maximize the impact of their work. The Woods Institute team is wonderful and brings a depth of experience and thoughtfulness to each of us."
Bethany Corcoran
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Engineering
Cohort Year: 2013
"My experiences as a RELP fellow have been incredibly rewarding and informative. I am now much more aware of the opportunities and processes for science to impact policy and how to better communicate my research to diverse audiences. The week-long DC Boot Camp was the highlight, offering a multitude of insights and networking opportunities to establish valuable connections with policy experts in our individual research areas and give more visibility to our research. The RELP program also inspired me to expand my views of post-PhD job options, which I proceeded to explore as a participant in the McKinsey and Company Insight Engineering and Science Program. I would highly recommend the RELP program!"
Diana Ginnebaugh
Engineering
Cohort Year: 2013
"The RELP program was an amazing experience. It was great for my personal and professional development. I gained new insights and perspectives from meeting with a whole variety of policy makers, government officials, and people from NGOs and think tanks during the DC Boot Camp. One of the best things from the trip are the friendships I formed with the whole cohort. They are amazing people who are really going to make a difference in their respective environmental fields, making our planet a better place. These personal relationships I have formed will continue to enrich me throughout my life. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the Woods Team really put in a tremendous amount of time and thought to make everything new, interesting, relevant, and run smoothly. Wish I could do it again!"
