Funding models change with the times

I’m Melissae Fellet, one of the NASW graduate travel fellows and a student in the science communication program at UC Santa Cruz. On Saturday, I’m blogging about our discussions regarding new funding models for journalism.

It’s no secret that journalism is changing. As my science writing career journey begins, I am eager to learn all that I can about what that change looks like. My chosen field might be in flux, but I’m ready follow the adventure wherever it may lead.

More about me: I realized I wanted to be a writer while I finished my Ph.D. in chemistry. Based on my time in a lab, I believe the scientific process is a uniquely human experience, filled with determination, frustration, and joy. I hope to share these emotions with others through my stories. Inspiration strikes while I’m hiking among the magnificent redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains, sleeping under the stars, or baking a loaf of bread. To learn more, check out my website.

The Evolving Journalist

Hey there, I’m Marla Broadfoot, one of the NASW travel fellows. I’ll be blogging on Saturday about the session “Rebooting Science Journalism: Adapting to the New Media Landscape,” which features Emily Bell, Betsy Matson and Bora Zivkovic. The session is supposed to explore how we as science journalists should evolve to survive in this changing media landscape. These new media forms make me as nervous as the next person, so I am looking forward to a lively discussion on what we as writers can do to stay in the rat race, at the same time continuing to do justice to the science.

As for me, I’m a freelancer living in a little town outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, where I write for clients such as the Raleigh News & Observer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Mayo Clinic, American Scientist and Duke University. Before I was a writer I did a stint as a scientist, earning my Ph.D. in genetics from UNC-Chapel Hill and doing a postdoc in clinical molecular diagnostics at the National Human Genome Research Institute. You can read more about me on my website or in a recent interview at A Blog Around the Clock and scienceinthetriangle.org.

Intelligently-designed conference strives to evolve science writing

My name is Alaina G. Levine and I am a NASW Travel Fellow. I am extremely excited about ScienceWriters 2010, as it will be my first NASW Conference. I will be reporting on Great Science Writing Part I: From Eureka Moment to Book, and am looking forward to this and many other sessions – as well as the fabulous networking and learning opportunities with other writers and editors.

Although I am fairly new to NASW, I have been freelance writing for about 10 years. I have published 90 or so articles on subjects relating to science, science careers, and business in publications such as Science and Nature, and I currently write the Profiles in Versatility column for the national publication of the American Physical Society.

I have degrees in mathematics and anthropology from the University of Arizona (UA), and prior to becoming a full-time freelancer, I directed a master’s program in science and business and taught a graduate course on entrepreneurship for scientists at the UA. In the summer of 2010, I was honored to attend the Euroscience Open Forum as a Robert Bosch Stiftung Science Journalism Fellow. I wrote about my experiences on the PhysicsBuzz blog. You can read more about me at http://www.alainalevine.com/.

Unboxed Media Hits The Road

Unboxed Media is me-myself-and-I, Janet Rae-Dupree, former staffer at (in reverse chronological order) the Silicon Valley Business Journal, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, the San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Breeze, the L.A. Daily News... Yes, one covers lots of territory during three decades in this business. My journalism life took a marvelous turn for the better in 2005 when I was named a Knight Fellow at Stanford, where I got to spend an academic year absorbing all things innovation. I've been freelancing ever since.

Lately, that freelance work has been for a variety of outlets including Cleveland Clinic Magazine, ONE, Digital Innovation Gazette and a clean energy industry consortium called SolarTech. I've written a Dummies book (The Anatomy & Physiology Workbook for Dummies) and I'm preparing a proposal for a second Dummies book (Livescribe for Dummies). I've got two other book proposals in varying stages of readiness and I've recently begun working on a series of personal essays that may eventually form something resembling a memoir. And I've been fortunate enough to be named a travel fellow to this year's NASW conference, so I'm headed to Yale!

My current passions are innovation of every description (think "outside the box" to understand my Unboxed moniker), emerging technologies, renewable fuel sources, neuroscience, personalized medicine, proteomics/genomics, and nanotechnology.

I've been tweeting from a variety of science and technology conferences for well over a year, so it made sense for me to sign up to tweet about the two "Great Science Writing" panels. I will, of course, be tweeting away about many other sights/sounds/thoughts. Please do give me a follow @jraedupree. FYI -- the hashtag is #sciwri10. Don't know what that means? Here's a quick Twitter Lesson du Jour: Use hashtags to search for subjects of interest to you, and to label your tweets according to their key subject. More social media lessons to follow!

Who Doesn't Love Data?

Hello, fellow science writers! I'm Virginia (Ginny) Hughes, an NASW Travel Fellow, freelance writer, Brooklynite, foodie and brain geek.

I'm interested in neuroscience, genetics, biotech and the growing number of ways in which they overlap. You can check out my clips on my website, or go read my posts on various blogs: The Last Word on Nothing, NOVA's Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers, and On SFARI, an autism news blog.

I'll be rolling into the conference bright and early on Saturday morning, and I'm planning to blog from the session on 'Data visualization for reporting and storytelling.' As scientists ramp up their work on whole-genome sequencing, say, and gene expression maps, and protein configurations and brain 'connectomes', we journalists need to figure out compelling ways to present those massive streams of data. I'll report back with some good tips — and, with any luck, some pretty pictures!

(I'll also be Tweeting a bit from the conference, via @virginiahughes.)

Just 3 days, 2 hours, 45 minutes to go

I’m Anne Frances Johnson, a grad student in science journalism, and seriously pumped for a fun conference. Let me start by saying THANK YOU NASW for supporting graduate travel fellowships! It is enormously gracious of you and a huge help for us.

I’ll be bundling up for the northward journey to New Haven from North Carolina, where I’m pursuing a master’s in medical and science journalism at UNC. I’m arriving extra early to help out with check-in before the Science Cabaret and anniversary party.

I wish whole humans were capable of mitosis so I could split myself up and attend all the great conference sessions. I guess that’s what this blog’s all about—insights from all the sessions in near real-time. I’ll be blogging about “How to be an effective science PIO in the changing media world.”

If I learned anything at the last great conference I attended, ScienceOnline 2010 (and I assure you I did), it was that science communicators are the most fascinating, outspoken, up to date, and fun people around. Beyond the sessions, I look forward to reconnecting with colleagues and meeting many new people.

Besides being a grad student, I’m also a freelance science writer and a former Communications Officer at the National Academy of Sciences. I love communicating all things science and health, whether through text, video, graphics and web products. Here’s an interview I did with Bora Zivkovic on A Blog Around the Clock. Check out my website for more.

Thanks for following the blog!

Adapt or Die: Rebooting Science Journalism

I’m Marie Zhuikov, NASW travel fellow and a freelance writer/editor who specializes in environmental and health topics. When not freelancing, I work as a project administrator for the St. Louis River Alliance, a nonprofit group working to protect, restore and enhance the St. Louis River in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

I’ll be one of two bloggers covering Rebooting Science Journalism: Adapting to the New Media Landscape. As a science writer who started out on a typewriter, I’m sure I’ll discover something new in this session designed to explore how science writers need to adapt to the changing media landscape to best serve their craft and audiences. The session speakers should know their stuff: Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia; Betsy Mason, editor of Wired Science; and Bora Zivkovic, blog editor at Scientific American. It's moderated by author David Dobbs.

When not helping to preserve piping plover shorebirds and decontaminate the St. Louis River, I freelance for clients like the Mayo Clinic, Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong.com health web site, and the University of Minnesota Duluth. From humble beginnings as the environmental reporter for the Minnesota Daily, I’ve risen to public information officer for organizations like the U.S. Forest Service, Minnesota Sea Grant and Mayo Clinic’s Center for Translational Science Activities. I am currently a communications advisor for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Board of Scientific Counselors . I have a master’s degree in health journalism and a bachelor’s in science journalism with a bio minor from the University of Minnesota.

This will be my first NASW conference and I appreciate the opportunity to share this information with you.