PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The OFIS Ambassador Program extends the Mentorship Program experience, offering alumni the opportunity to continue engaging with science, community-based work, and the broader OFIS network.

Ambassadors remain actively involved in OFIS by building on their prior work, contributing to programming, and sharing how science can be used to understand and address real-world challenges.

The Ambassador Program supports continued learning, leadership development, and science communication through applied and public-facing work.

The program is virtual and brings together alumni from across the country— high schoolers, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students. Ambassadors participate in regular meetings and engage in ongoing activities that connect science, community issues, and professional development. Participants receive a $1,000 honorarium for full participation.

WHAT AMBASSADORS DO

Ambassadors continue to apply what they learned in the Mentorship Program while expanding their skills and impact. They:

  • Engage in ongoing learning: Participate in bi-monthly meetings focused on topics such as climate change, environmental adaptation, and mental health

  • Develop and share content: Create 2–3 multimedia outputs that communicate the connection between science and community issues

  • Contribute to the OFIS community: Support workshops, share insights with current mentees and mentors, and participate in program activities

  • Explore community-focused work: Continue investigating issues of interest and, in some cases, build on or develop new project ideas

WHAT AMBASSADORS GAIN

  • Continued engagement with the OFIS network

  • Opportunities to present work in public and professional settings

  • Experience in science communication and storytelling

  • Skills in leadership, collaboration, and community engagement

  • Exposure to emerging issues at the intersection of science and communities

The Ambassador Program launched in Fall 2022 and continues to grow each year. Applications open each summer and are available to former OFIS mentees and mentors who want to continue building on their experience. For information on the Ambassador Program, please email info@ourfutureisscience.org.

OVERVIEW & REFLECTION VIDEO

Sara, an OFIS Ambassador from Boston, presented her project at an international research conference.

AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT: OFIS Ambassadors share their work beyond the program through presentations, conferences, and partnerships. For example, Sara, a 2022–2023 Ambassador, presented her Science Engagement Project at the International Forum on Research Excellence (IFoRE). Her work explored how nutrition and food insecurity affect students’ academic performance. After OFIS, Sara was accepted into Brown University’s highly selective Program in Liberal Medical Education, an eight-year combined undergraduate and medical degree program.

AMBASSADOR MINI PROJECTS

Ambassadors lead/co-lead one (1) multimedia project to bring to life the connection between science and local communities.

Topics can be of personal interest, a current event, an emerging issue, or even a long-standing community or global challenge.

Example projects include:

  • Blog or video content for the OFIS website and social media

  • Sharing experiences and advice during OFIS workshops

  • Informational interviews with scientists or community leaders

  • Highlight reels of OFIS events, projects, and participant work

  • Collaborations with OFIS partners, university-led efforts, and/or science and community organizations.

WHAT AMBASSADORS ARE SAYING…

“OFIS opened my eyes to the world of science communication and the process of sharing research with others. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity OFIS provided me to fly out to Washington, and not only present my work with OFIS, but participate on a panel discussing my experience with OFIS. Not only did I gain a new level of confidence in my abilities as a scientist, but also as a public speaker and communicator.” — Ambassador (high-schooler)

“OFIS is shown me that I don't think I can have a career that doesn't some aspect of community.”

— Ambassador (graduate student)

“I applied for a graduate school service excellence award highlighting my engagement at OFIS. I was humbled to receive the award, which is very competitive, as only one winner is selected annually by a committee chaired by a representative in the Graduate School and student and staff representatives of service-focused areas of campus. This showed me that what we are doing in OFIS is significant and valued in higher education at the graduate school level.”

— Ambassador (graduate student)