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Are you living or working in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas or Louisiana? Thanks to an NASW Idea Grant awarded to some of your creative colleagues in Austin, Texas, the first SciCommSouth meetup for writers and communicators in the South Central region will take place in Austin on Jan. 13. Register by Nov. 15 for the early bird rate.
“Once I started looking, I found jellyfish stories everywhere,” Juli Berwald writes in Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone. “I spent hours reading about their shape, how they swim, what they eat, whether they think, how they reproduce, how they sting, how they glow.” Berwald traveled the globe to observe and swim with jellyfish, and talk with scientists working with them. Her odyssey — an instructive guide to researching and writing a book — provides a first-hand look at the lives of the historically understudied jellyfish, and perspective on the likely future of our oceans.
Adding a new voice to the growing offerings of online science journalism, Annual Reviews is launching a digital magazine. Knowable Magazine uses various forms of storytelling to explore the life, physical, and social sciences. The magazine debuts at WCSJ2017.
With 1,364 delegates from 70+ countries, the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists in San Francisco is looking to be a great event. Registration has closed, and there are no late or onsite registrations. Follow #wcsj2017 for updates from afar.
The NASW Travel Fellowship to AAAS is one of three signature programs of the NASW Education Committee (together with the NASW Mentoring Program and NASW Internship Fair). The fellow experience includes specialized training and guidance on how to cover a meeting and how to report and structure stories, and several rounds of one-on-one editing by NASW volunteers.
The physical skill required to walk a tightrope differs little from that required to walk across a room, Carol Svec writes in Balance: A Dizzying Journey Through the Science of Our Most Delicate Sense. The body’s balance systems, Svec reports, integrate signals from the inner ear, eyes, and sensory nerves to enable us to stand up without toppling over, maneuver snaky mountain passes, and relish roller coaster rides. To research her book, Svec talked with scientists, clinicians, and individuals with balance disorders. She also gamely explored a tumbling room, swaying hallway, and menacingly named “Vominator.”
NASW student members looking for great internships — or news and science organizations looking for top interns — should plan to attend the 2018 NASW Internship Fair.