Dr. Becky McCauley Rench, Research Associate, CReST Fellow

Dr. Becky McCauley Rench joins the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies as a Research Associate in the S&T Policy Division and as a 2015 CReST Fellow in the Center for Revolutionary Thought (CReST).

Prior to joining the Potomac Institute, Dr. McCauley Rench successfully defended her Ph.D. in Geosciences and Astrobiology at the Pennsylvania State University in 2015. Her graduate work focused on the diversity and metabolic potential of cave microbial communities as they relate to early Earth analog environments and the search for life. A West Virginia native, she completed her undergraduate schooling at West Virginia University and holds a B.A. in Biology and a B.A. in Chemistry. Before starting her graduate education and after obtaining her B.A. degrees, Dr. McCauley Rench participated in disaster preparedness response as an AmeriCorps member in San Francisco.

Dr. McCauley Rench is a Truman Scholar and NSF Graduate Research Fellow.