Join the WST Learning Community for dinner and discussion. Our guest speaker is

Ms. Marlit Hayslett, who serves as the founding director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s Office of Policy Analysis and Research (OPAR) in Atlanta, Georgia. OPAR is the nation's only applied research program focused on state-level science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy. Motivated by the vision of improving public policy outcomes through evidence-based decision-making, Ms. Hayslett’s long-term research goals synthesize around understanding the role of government in fostering innovation-based economic development. In addition to leading OPAR’s applied policy research, Ms. Hayslett supports the Georgia General Assembly’s House and Senate Science and Technology Committees. Most recently, she has collaborated with Georgia’s technology business community to introduce and enact legislation calling for a task force to explore the role of a strategic plan for STI in Georgia. In 2012, Ms. Hayslett was honored by the Georgia General Assembly with two legislative resolutions recognizing and commending her work in science and technology policy in Georgia. As a result of years of engaging policymakers on technical topics, Ms. Hayslett has led several national and international conference panels and workshops on communicating science to policymakers and media.

Prior to GTRI, Ms. Hayslett served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Krompachy, Slovakia. She taught English to students in middle school, high school, and adult factory workers. While serving, she organized Slovakia’s first Model United Nations.