Emma Courtney
New York, NY
courtney@cshl.edu
Education
Ph.D. Candidate, Biological Sciences — Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Advisor: Camila dos Santos, Ph.D.
2023 –
B.S. Natural Sciences, B.S. Social Sciences — Minerva University
Studied in Buenos Aires, Berlin, London, Seoul, and San Francisco.
2019 – 2023
Awards
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP)
2023
Public Engagement Training Content Microgrant, Research!America
2025
Science for Public Good Grant, Union of Concerned Scientists
2025
Professional Experience
Co-Founder, Science for Good
March 2025 –
Co-Founder, Science Careers and Opportunities in Policy and Education
August 2024 –
Co-Founder & National Organizer, Stand Up for Science
January 2025 – April 2025
Science/Policy Intern, New York State Office of the Attorney General, Environmental Protection Bureau
September 2024 – April 2025
Science Diplomacy Fellow, Consulate General of Chile in San Francisco
December 2023 – August 2024
Marketing Communications Coordinator, Bluebird Communications
November 2020 – August 2023
Science Diplomacy Intern, Young Professionals in Foreign Policy
January – May 2022
Policy Intern, Barefoot Academy of Governance
January 2021 – May 2021
Growth Fellow, Mighty Health
August 2020 – August 2021
Executive Assistant, Minerva University
August 2019 – May 2021
Research Experience
Research Associate I, Immunology, Yang Lab, University of California, San Francisco
May 2023 – August 2023
Research Assistant, Psychology, Cognition and Development Lab, Yale University
May 2021 – August 2023
Research Assistant, Causal Inference, Minerva University
October 2022 – May 2023
Research Assistant, Developmental Biology, Farina Lab, University of Buenos Aires
August – December 2023
Research Assistant, Computational Biology, Megret Lab, University of Puerto Rico
August – December 2022
REU Participant, Neurobiology, Agosto and Giray Labs, University of Puerto Rico
June – August 2022
Research Intern, Predictive Ecology, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
April – May 2022
Research Intern, Developmental Biology, Ahnn Lab, Hanyang University
January – May 2021
Research Assistant, Neuroscience, Kao Lab, University of California, San Francisco
August 2019 – April 2020
Teaching Experience
Co-Instructor: Science Careers and Opportunities in Policy and Education
Summer 2025: New Media Communications Course
Teaching Assistant – Minerva University
Spring 2023: Analyzing Matter and Molecules (Analytical Chemistry)
Fall 2022: Intermediate Economic Thought
Fall 2021, Spring 2022: Statistical Modeling: Prediction and Causal Inference
Service and Leadership
Executive Editor, MIT Science Policy Review
2024 –
Co-President, CSHL Diversity Initiative for the Advancement of STEM
2024 – 2025
Co-Chair of In-House Education, CSHL Women in Science and Engineering
2024 –
Contributor, MIT Science Policy Review
2023 – 2024
Barcode Long Island Mentor
2023 – 2024
American Geophysical Union Local Science Partner
2023 –
Editor-in-Chief of the Minerva Quest
2022 – 2023
Founder of the Minerva Undergraduate Research Association
2020 – 2023
Associated Students of Minerva Representative
2020 – 2023
Co-lead of the African Summer Consulting Program at Minerva University
2021 – 2023
Volunteer at the Earth Law Center
2020 – 2021
Academic Publications
L. Berntsen,* E. Courtney,* C. Delawalla,* J.P. Flores,*S. Goldstein,* & C. Payne (2025). Why we organized ‘Stand Up For Science’. Nature Human Behaviour, 1-2.
E. Courtney,* M. McCarthy,* F. Keil. (2024). Children’s unexpected inferences across knowledge types. Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
E. Courtney,* M. McCarthy,* F. Keil. (2024). Strong but wrong: Adult’s intuitions of functional and mechanistic knowledge. Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
I. Honda, E. Courtney, R. Miller, A. Moon (2024). Green Labs Austria: Pioneering sustainability in scientific research. MIT Science Policy Review. (All authors contributed equally to this work).
E. Courtney, Y.B. Koru, E. Aviles-Rios, Y. Ortiz-Alvarado, M. A. Doke, A. Montes-Mercado, A. A. Ruggieri, N. Rodriguez, R. Giordano, R.K. Donthu, J. Leon, A. Ghezzi, T. Giray, J. Agosto. (2023). Gut Microbes Affect the Ontogeny of Circadian Rhythm. Minerva University Senior Thesis.
S. Mohan, P. J. Sampognaro, A. R. Argouarch, J. C. Maynard, M. Welch, A. Patwardhan, E. Courtney, J. Zhang, A. Mason, K. H. Li, E. J. Huang, W. W. Seeley, B. L. Miller, A. Burlingame, M. P. Jacobson, A. W. Kao. (2021). Processing of progranulin into granulins involves multiple lysosomal proteases and is affected in frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Molecular neurodegeneration, 16(1), 1-18.
E. Courtney,* M. McCarthy,* N. Betz, F. Keil. (In Review). Strong but Wrong: Assessing the Accuracy of Adult Intuitions through function and mechanism instruction for adults and children.
Non-Academic Publications
Op-Ed: Studying Metastatic Breast Cancer
Article: Lessons of the past, leaders of tomorrow
Conference Presentations
E. Courtney* (2024). Navigating Scientific Horizons: A Blueprint for Effective Training through Experience-Based Projects. Talk at the 2024 National Science Policy Symposium.
E. Courtney* and M. Eensalu* (2024). Improving science communication through effective public interaction. Poster at the 2024 National Science Policy Symposium.
E. Courtney, E. Avilés Ríos, Y. B. Koru, A. Avalos, T. Giray, J. Agosto. (2022). Understanding IGFBP-ALS in the Development of Circadian Rhythm: Molecular and Genomic Insights. Poster presented at the XIX International Union for the Study of Social Insects International Congress.
E. Courtney, Y. B. Koru, A. Avalos, T. Giray, J. Agosto. (2022). A Genome Analysis of IGFALS in Honey Bees: Understanding the Allele Frequency of Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein Acid Labile Subunit in Apis mellifera Foragers in Puerto Rico. Poster presented at the 2022 Society for Neuroscience meeting.
E. Courtney, Y.B. Koru, E. Aviles-Rios, Y. Ortiz-Alvarado, M. A. Doke, A. Montes-Mercado, A. A. Ruggieri, N. Rodriguez, R. Giordano, R.K. Donthu, J. Leon, A. Ghezzi, T. Giray, J. Agosto. (2022). The Role of Gut Microbes in the Ontogeny of Circadian Rhythm in A. Mellifera. Poster presented at the 2022 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for the Association of Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS).
*Authors contributed equally to this work.
Features and Interviews
‘I really wanted something to happen.’ The students behind the Stand Up for Science protests
The cost of Trump’s attack on American science
US science is under threat ― now scientists are fighting back
Stand Up for Science: US Researchers Mobilize in National Protests
‘Stand Up for Science’ Rallies Will Protest Trump Attacks on Research
Scientists Are Rising Up to Resist Trump Policies
Activists organize rally in Hartford as part of ‘Stand Up for Science’
Hit by ‘Gut Punches,’ Scientists Band Together to Protest Trump
‘Stand up’: Scientists launch major protest against ‘devastating attacks’ by Trump administration
‘Stand Up for Science’ rallies call for Trump to reverse research cuts
‘Uncertain, anxious, fearful.’ That’s the mood at 2025’s first big U.S. science meeting
Thousands gather across U.S. and world in Stand Up for Science events
Facing Trump Attack, People ‘Stand Up for Science’ at Rallies Across US and Beyond
Stand Up for Science Rallies Draw Crowds Protesting Trump Cuts
Last Updated: August 2, 2025
Emma Courtney 