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February 2002 Newsletter2001: A VERY GOOD YEAR FOR NCSWA The past year proved to be a busy one for NCSWA. We started the year with a bang… an electroluminescent, fire-eating extravaganza for science writers covering February’s AAAS meeting here in San Francisco. In November, we sponsored our first-ever, daylong workshop for students and others considering or just beginning careers in science writing. The workshop featured panel discussions on newspaper and magazine writing, freelance and book writing, broadcast media, and public information careers (which included some discussion of Internet and new media). The day began and ended with plenary discussions by NCSWA members John Wilkes (head of the UCSC Science Communications Program) and Timothy Ferris (noted astronomy writer). NCSWA dinners in 2001 provided attendees with useful and fascinating information about aging and the potential for hormonal therapies to prolong life, stem cells, and a hilarious, rapid-fire recap of the 1990s by NPR commentator Ian Shoales. We sponsored field trips to the UCSC Long Marine Lab, which included an up-close introduction to the two ex-Navy dolphins in residence there, and tours of the US Geological Survey campus in Menlo Park and Filoli Gardens in Woodside. This week, NCSWA board members will meet to discuss ideas for future dinner speakers, field trips, and workshops for the coming year. If you have suggestions, please let Sally Stephens (stephensfw@mindspring.com) or any of the other board members know. If you haven’t already, be sure to bookmark the new NCSWA web site URL which is http://www.ncswa.org. After years of relying on the kindness of the folks at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory to host us, we finally have our own domain name. Thanks are especially due to board member Jeff Kahn, our webmaster, who researched servers and ISPs, and made the transition appear effortless, even as we know it involved a lot of work. MEMBER NEWS Mary Miller has just returned from seven weeks in Antarctica under an NSF Artists and Writers grant. She headed up a four person crew from the Exploratorium that did 45 live webcasts, posted 25 online stories and shot 60 hours of digital video. Among the places they visited: the top of Mt Erebus, the southern-most active volcano; Lake Hoare in the Dry Valleys where "worm herders" are studying nematodes and other soil microbes in the coldest driest desert on earth; the South Pole, where she spent a very surreal Christmas; the Cape Royds Adelie penguin colony, which suffered the worst breeding year in decades; scuba diving under the ice -- yes it was cold; a Coast Guard icebreaker; and a sea ice camp where biologists are studying the diving physiology of Emperor penguins. Along the way, Mary learned a lot more about how to shoot and edit video, create online multimedia stories and get comfortable in front of a camera herself. She reports that there's nothing like doing a long complex project to really practice those new media skills that Jane Stevens has been teaching. She's very happy to tell ice stories to anyone willing to listen. To see some of what Mary did, go to: http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/antarctica/index.html Mary continues… "For a science writer this place is paradise. For people interested in coming to Antarctica, I wrote a grant to NSF Antarctica Artists and Writers Program on behalf of the Exploratorium. I'm the PI and producer of the project. Guy Guthridge is the program officer at NSF and a nice person to deal with. Media visitors have much less time and freedom of movement than A&W, but the grants are very competitive. You have to have a very good project to get accepted and most people wait at least two years. We were lucky to get it the first year we applied and the good news for me is that it's a two-year grant." Jeff Kahn, the (e-mail) voice of NCSWA, has moved
"up in the world but downhill from where I was." Kahn says he completed his
manifest destiny, moving west some 800 yards, from his former job at Lawrence
Berkeley Lab to his new job at UC Berkeley. At Cal, Kahn is the new web manager,
overseeing the team responsible for the campus gateway site while also serving
as Berkeley’s managing editor of online news. Tim DeRoche sends word that, "As executive producer,
I'm working with a team of people to develop a children's TV show that will
focus on the history of invention and design around the world (and throughout
history). Currently, our team includes veteran sitcom actor/director Peter
Bonerz, as well as Henry Petroski, who has written several books about the
history of engineering including The Evolution Of Useful Things. We're
currently looking for experts on the history of indigenous technologies around
the world. E-mail timderoche@yahoo.com." Michael Riordan has stepped down from his position
as assistant to the director at SLAC to concentrate on his teaching and research
in the history of science and technology. Larry O’Hanlon writes, "In May I will be marrying former UCSF medical writer Leslie Harris. Leslie is re-training at CSUS to become an elementary school teacher. She’s apparently smarter than all of us in judging what profession is recession-proof." Désirée Karge notes, "What an exciting year for me — and productive: Since September 5th our family size has risen dramatically due to the arrival of our twin sons Simon and Linus. My 18-month-old daughter Sophie is still not sure whether they will stay forever. As for my writing career at Bild Der Eissenschaft: I’m still waiting for my body to grow two additional pair of hands. In the meantime I am using my 20 minutes free time per day with writing e-mails, shopping online and sleeping — not specifically in that order…" MEMBER BOOKS After ten years in the works, Timothy Ferris’s 150,000-word book on stargazing and amateur astronomy, Seeing in the Dark, has been delivered to Simon & Schuster for publication this September. Meanwhile HarperCollins is re-issuing Ferris’ first book, The Red Limit, originally published in 1977. Lucy Day's new poetry collection, Infinities, will be published in March by Cedar Hill Publications. The poems celebrate the natural world and explore the connections among science, nature, and human experience. Lucy will be reading at Cody's Books on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley on March 13, at New College in San Francisco on March 14, and at Barnes & Noble Berkeley on March 24. All readings are at 7:30 p.m. Madeleine Nash, a former senior science correspondent for Time magazine for 15 years, has joined NCSWA and is moving to San Francisco. Writes Nash, "My book -- El Niño: Unlocking the Secrets of the Master Weather-Maker -- is about to come out. The pub date is March 12, and the book is already available online at both Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. I believe it will be shipping to bookstores around the country in another week or so." NEW MEMBERS We’d like to welcome the following new members, who provided information about themselves on the membership form. If you’re a new member who didn’t include information about yourself on the membership form, drop me a line to let me know what you’re up to and I’ll include it in the next newsletter. Hope to see all of you at our dinners, special events, or workshops. William Brand covers science for the Oakland Tribune and other ANG newspapers. "After 13 years covering Berkeley and UC, science seems like a calm place to land." Heidi Stauffer works full time as a staff geologist at Levine-Fricke, LFR, while finishing her M.S. in geology at San Jose State University. "Aside from writing my thesis and the occasional report at work, I am the newsletter editor for the SF Bay Chapter of the Association for Women Geoscientists." Kristine Novak worked as an editor for three years at the biomedical research journal "Nature Medicine," and recently became senior editor at the new journal "Nature Reviews Cancer," which highlights the latest basic and clinical research discoveries. Kay S. Greisen, "won an STC ‘Award of Excellence’ for my photographically illustrated laboratory manual entitled ‘Commercial Propagation of Orchids in Tissue Culture: Seed Flasking Methods’ — 2000-2001 publication. Competition sponsored by the Intermountain Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication." UPCOMING FELLOWSHIPS, WORKSHOPS, WORK OPPORTUNITIES World Health Organization's Journalism Fellowship Programme: Health in Afghanistan … Responding to Ebola Outbreaks… Eliminating Polio… Bioterrorism and Smallpox… Tobacco's Worldwide Impact… Violence and Public Health… Genetically Modified Foods… Heart Disease in Developing Countries… Ending Leprosy… Mental Health… Malaria, TB, HIV… and the Link between Disease, Poverty and Conflict These are just a few of the topics seven selected reporters will be able to explore at the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva during a two week fellowship in October. An optional third week will be available to fellows to enable them to pursue their research in the field anywhere in the world. The WHO Journalism Fellowship is composed of two components to give reporters a broad and deep understanding of the forces shaping global public health. First, WHO Fellows will attend morning briefings on a range of international public health issues. The briefings will be held daily from 10 a.m. to noon. Then, during the remaining time, the fellows will have the freedom to roam WHO, to attend lectures and seminars, to interview staff, and to use WHO's extensive research resources to pursue their own special interests. Fellows will have a minimum of five years experience in medical, health policy or foreign affairs reporting in print or electronic media. Seven applicants will be chosen from around the world. The fellowship will run from 14 October to 25 October 2002. WHO will pay transportation, housing and moderate living costs to fellows while at headquarters and during the optional third week of field experience. Fellows will be asked to produce two written pieces. One will be a 100-word profile of an incoming fellow. The second is to be a 500-word piece on any topic. These pieces will run, unedited, in the Fellowship Bulletin, which will be distributed annually to former fellows. An application form can be found on WHO's web site at http://www.who.int. The completed application and supporting materials must be received in Geneva by 30 April 2002 to be considered. An international board of leading journalists will make the selection of fellows. Those who are selected will be notified in May. For further information please contact the fellowship coordinator: Dick Thompson New Journal, "Science Communication:" Media Coverage of Scientific Research, Intellectual Property,The Role of the Internet in Science Communication, Science and Technology Issues in the New Millennium, and Bridging the Gap Between Science and Society. These are among the topics covered in "Science Communication," an international interdisciplinary social science journal. The editor invites manuscripts for consideration from authors in all disciplines (e.g., social sciences, policy sciences, economics, and history) and organizations (e.g., universities, government, and the private sector) that deal with these and related issues. Whenever possible, articles should attempt to bridge the gap between theory and practice and focus on innovative interdisciplinary approaches to the communication of science. Submissions addressing issues of ethics, equity, and economics are especially welcome. "Science Communication" examines the communication of science and technology among professionals and to a wider public, the diffusion of knowledge, and the nature of expertise. Areas of particular interest include:
For information about "Science Communication" and submitting articles to it, contact: Carol L. Rogers |
