AAAS Fellows in front of the U.S. Capitol building

NSF AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellows

Biography

Portrait of Zachary Caddick, AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow
Credit: Charlotte Geary/NSF

Dr. Zachary Caddick
AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow
Division of Innovation and Technology Ecosystems 
Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships
Class of 2024-2026


Dr. Zachary (Zac) Caddick joins the U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Science and Technology Policy Fellow. A cognitive psychologist, Caddick specializes in how people process information, particularly on complex societal issues such as climate change, voting, medicine and misinformation. He is committed to leveraging scientific research to inform policy and tackle societal challenges.

Caddick earned his doctorate and master's degree in cognitive psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, where his dissertation developed a framework for collective decision-making in voting, offering insights into voter preferences and voting systems. He also holds a master's degree in experimental psychology from San José State University and a bachelor's degree in psychology from California State University, San Bernardino. Before pursuing his doctorate, Caddick worked as a research associate at NASA's Human Systems Integration Division, addressing human performance issues and contributing to guidelines for sleep environments on long-duration space missions.