Are you a student looking for guidance on how to establish a career in science writing? Are you curious about how senior science writers do their jobs? Here's your chance to find out through the NASW Mentoring Program, which matches science writing students with established science journalists and public information officers for a day during the AAAS Annual Meeting. This year's meeting is February 14-18 in Boston.
The program is limited by the number of mentors who volunteer. Participants are selected by the co-chairs of the NASW Education Committee, and spots generally are assigned in order of applications from students. All applicants must be regular members or student members of NASW by February 1. Please go to www.nasw.org to apply for membership; contact the committee at mentor@nasw.org if you have questions about membership.
Some mentors will ask students to shadow them for a day or half-day, showing them how they select talks and press conferences for coverage. Others may choose to have lunch or breakfast with their young writer and be available for questions throughout the meeting. Those details will be worked out between the mentors and their "mentees."
Application deadline for the mentoring program is Friday, Feb. 1. Those selected to participate must attend an orientation in Boston on Friday, Feb. 15 from 4:00-5:00 pm. The mentoring program does not provide funding for travel to AAAS.
To gain access to press-only areas at the meeting, students must register separately with AAAS here: http://meeting2013.aaas.org/pressreg.
To apply for a mentor at the AAAS annual meeting, cut and paste the form below into an e-mail message, complete it and send it to mentor@nasw.org. Please do not reply to this message.
____ Yes! I'd like to have an NASW mentor!
Note: All information is required! Incomplete applications will not be considered. Deadline is February 1.
Name: ______________________________________
Institution: ___________________________________
Cell phone: __________________________________
Email: ____________________________________
____ I am a member of NASW.
My preferences are for my mentoring to occur: Fri ____ Sat ____ Sun ____
I would prefer a:
University/public relations mentor _____
Journalist mentor _____ Specify newspaper, magazine, broadcast, online and/or freelance: _______________
(Note: We strive to make close matches, but we cannot guarantee you will get the type of mentor you request.)
Science field(s) of particular interest: _______________
My writing experience is:
___ None
___ Class work only
___ 1-3 published articles/broadcast stories/news releases
___ 4+ published articles/broadcast stories/news releases
___ Blogging regularly about science
If you blog, please provide your blog's URL: ______________________________
What do you expect from your mentor? (check all that apply)
____ Networking
____ Specific career advice
____ A journalist/public relations day-in-the-life
____ Introductions to editors for freelance work
____ Other? (please specify) _____________________
Please include below (NO ATTACHMENTS) a brief summary of your educational and professional background. You may also include writing samples. If your writing samples, tapes or other media cannot be transmitted electronically, please describe the work.
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