On the Origin of Science Writers - The Open Notebook



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On the Origin of Science Writers

How do people get started in science writing?

This is one of the most common questions that science writers get asked, and there are as many answers as there are science writers. Here we collect dozens of those answers from some of the best in the business, each of whom also offers one pithy nugget of advice for newcomers. This collection is inspired by a now-defunct comment thread on The Atlantic staff writer Ed Yong’s Discover Blogs post from 2010 ( attr(href) ). Freelance journalist Carmen Drahl worked with The Open Notebook to collate writers’ stories with Yong’s support and involvement. We hope this guide offers help and inspiration to anyone making the leap into science writing.

Ainissa Ramirez, Ph.D.
Science writer; New Haven, Connecticut
Rachel Crowell
Freelance math and science writer; Iowa
Neel V. Patel
Space reporter, MIT Technology Review; Boston, Massachusetts
Laura Castañón
Senior science reporter, News@Northeastern (Northeastern University)
Shannon Palus
Staff writer, Slate; Brooklyn, New York
Riley Black
Freelance science writer; Salt Lake City, Utah
Pakinam Amer
Science writer, editor, and multimedia journalist, Cairo, Egypt
Sandeep Ravindran
Freelance science journalist; Washington, DC
Ramesh Bhushal
South Asia content coordinator, Internews' Earth Journalism Network; Nepal editor, www.thethirdpole.net
Rodrigo Pérez Ortega
Freelance science journalist; Mexico City, Mexico
Roxanne Khamsi
Science journalist; Montreal, Canada
Siri Carpenter
Editor-in-chief, The Open Notebook; Madison, Wisconsin
Tiên Nguyễn
Freelance science journalist and video producer; Los Angeles, California
Maryn McKenna
Freelance science journalist, author, and university instructor in science writing and storytelling; Atlanta, Georgia
Jill Sakai
Science writer and editor, freelance and University of Wisconsin–Madison; Madison, Wisconsin
Christie Aschwanden
Freelance science journalist and author; western Colorado
Carmen Drahl
Freelance science journalist; Washington, DC
Roxana Tabakman
Freelance science journalist and writer, São Paulo, Brazil
Jeanne Erdmann
Independent health and science journalist; Wentzville, Missouri
Kelly Brenner
Author; Seattle, Washington
Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer
Director of communications and science outreach, Ciencia Puerto Rico; associate director of diversity and communication training, iBiology
Carl Zimmer
Columnist, The New York Times, and book author; New Haven, Connecticut
Kelly Tyrrell
Director of Research Communications; Madison, Wisconsin
Mark Johnson
Health and science reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY network; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nadia Drake
Contributing writer, National Geographic; Virginia
Nidhi Subbaraman
Senior reporter, Nature; Washington, DC
Stephanie M. Lee
Science reporter, BuzzFeed News; San Francisco, California
Ryan Cross
Biotech reporter, Chemical & Engineering News; Cambridge, Massachusetts
Saad Lotfey
Co-Founder and program manager, Science Journalism Forum
Ed Yong
Staff writer, The Atlantic; Washington, DC
Federico Kukso
Freelance science journalist; Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tina Hesman Saey
Senior writer, molecular biology reporter, Science News; Washington, DC
Emily Willingham
Freelance science journalist
Andrada Fiscutean
Freelance science and tech journalist and former Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT; Bucharest, Romania
Sibusiso Biyela
Science writer, ScienceLink; Johannesburg, South Africa
Jennifer Ouellette
Senior writer, science and culture, Ars Technica; Los Angeles, California
Alexandra Witze
Correspondent, Nature magazine; Boulder, Colorado
Shawna Williams
Senior editor, The Scientist magazine; Brooklyn, New York
Eduardo Franco Berton
Editor and science journalist; Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Kate Horowitz
Senior science writer, Palladian Partners, and freelance writer; Portland, Maine
Aleida Rueda
Freelance science/health reporter; Mexico City, Mexico
Kendra Pierre-Louis
Senior reporter, Gimlet; Queens, New York
Sabrina Imbler
Freelance science journalist; Brooklyn, New York
Jane Qiu
Freelance science journalist; Beijing, China
David Quammen
Freelance journalist and author; Montana
Debra Krol
Indigenous affairs reporter, Arizona Republic
Angela Posada-Swafford
Freelance science journalist and author; Miami, Florida and Bogotá, Colombia
Meehan Crist
Writer in residence in biological sciences, Columbia University; Brooklyn, New York
Bothina Osama
Regional co-ordinator of MENA region, and the editor of the Arabic edition of SciDev.Net; Cairo, Egypt
Eric Boodman
Reporter, STAT; Boston, Massachusetts
Elaine Vitone
Senior editor, Pitt Med/Pitt Medcast; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Angela Saini
Freelance journalist and author; London, U.K.
Ann Finkbeiner
Freelance science writer; Baltimore, Maryland
Apoorva Mandavilli
Science and global health reporter, The New York Times; Brooklyn, New York
Aleszu Bajak
Senior data reporter at USA Today and former Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT
Caroline Chen
Reporter, ProPublica; New York, New York
Shraddha Chakradhar
Reporter, STAT; Boston, Massachusetts
Lauren Gravitz
Freelance science journalist and editor; San Diego, California
Dyna Rochmyaningsih
Freelance science journalist; North Sumatra, Indonesia
Ashley Smart
Associate director, Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT; Cambridge, Massachusetts
Pablo Correa
Science editor at El Espectador; Bogotá, Colombia
Natalie Wolchover
Senior writer and editor, Quanta Magazine; Queens, New York
Myriam Giselle Vidal Valero
Freelance science journalist; Mexico City, Mexico
Helen Fields
Writing team lead/senior science writer, Palladian Partners, Inc.; Washington, DC
Francie Diep
Senior reporter, The Chronicle of Higher Education; Washington, DC
Yao-Hua Law
Freelance science journalist; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Colin Schultz
News editor, Hakai Magazine; Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Jane C. Hu
Freelance science journalist; Seattle, Washington
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