From ScienceWriters and AAAS meetings
Peer review has long been the standard for quality science, but recent concerns about fraud among authors, bias among reviewers, and possible hindrance of scientific progress has led some to question the effectiveness of a process that relies on anonymous experts and occurs behind closed doors.
We need more food, and we need it fast. But how do we continue to produce enough food for a burgeoning population and at the same time make sure we’re protecting Earth’s limited natural resources and using them wisely? Scientists and economists tackled that question Feb. 18 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Vancouver.
NASW awarded travel grants to 8 undergraduates interested in science writing to attend the AAAS meeting in Vancouver, B.C., Feb. 16-20. The fellows reported on some of the scientific sessions that they found most interesting and newsworthy.
Two international research facilities are helping astronomers redefine the bounds of space exploration, without ever leaving the ground.
Eight endangered languages are now immortalized in online talking dictionaries, researchers announced Feb. 17 at the 2012 American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Vancouver.
Three sessions from our recent Flagstaff conference were caught on video and are now available for viewing. They are: "How to Sell That Story You Can't Let Go," "Straight to the Source: Helping Scientists Speak Directly to the Press," and "Science News, Spot News, or Both? Managing and Covering Science Protests." Use the "read more" link to watch and listen.
From New Horizons Program Director Paul Raeburn: ScienceWriters 2011, including the 49th annual New Horizons in Science, is now written in the dust of the Arizona desert.
John de Dios, a student in the journalism masters program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, captured dozens of images from ScienceWriters2011 in Flagstaff, Ariz., Oct. 14-18, 2011. Use the "read more" button to see them all.
Moderated by Czerne Reid, the session "Straight to the Source: Helping Scientists Speak Directly to the Press" was full of useful advice to PIOs. To me, the biggest message was delivered by Dennis Meredith, who said that scientists should get communication training rather than just media training, since "media is becoming one of the many outlets for scientists."
What would you do for the story of your dreams? Could you turn down The New York Times when it made an impossible request? Paige Williams did.