I recommend:

• Call your congressional representative and senators. Hearing from constituents, even ones they disagree with, tends to push congressmembers towards the right thing a little bit.
• Organize locally, with people in your community. Showing that you’ve got people who are organized around an issue is much more powerful than individuals calling on their own; this tends to suggest that people will vote as a bloc for change, which is a big deal for elected officials.
• Reach out to people whose lives are impacted by research. Think of for example facebook groups of people affected by a disease, or people with a vested interest in knowing about potential natural disasters. They’re a natural constituency for pushing for policy change, even if they don’t realize it yet.