I report, write, edit, review, design, draw, produce, host, speak, code, coach, mentor, teach, consult....
The latest:
In April 2023 I was recruited from my position as digital managing editor at American Scientist to become the inaugural Chief Content Officer / Editor-in-Chief at the Global Virus Network. The idea was that the GVN was strategizing for a new publication to help prevent future pandemics.
After helping lead the GVN through a strategic planning process, I parted ways with GVN in October 2024 after we re-focused the organization's mission on training virologists in low- and middle-income countries where many viral outbreaks tend to occur.
Yes, I'm always up for collaborating on projects, and this one, The Cognitive Science of Deception and Disinformation began in 2023 with funding from the Pulitzer Center. It was published in spring, 2024 on OpenMind, for which I drafted scripts, coached voicing, edited and produced the audio.
This semester for Harvard's journalism program, I'm off from teaching to focus on a number projects, professional and personal, that need extra attention. Previously, I served as a Capstone Director for several journalism masters students, taught podcasting several times (last fall's syllabus), as well as proposed and taught new courses on reporting on climate change (syllabus) and reporting on science (syllabus).
From the experience especially of teaching the new courses, I wrote a couple of articles for Nieman Reports:
Why Climate Change Stories Need More Context and
Why Every Science Story Needs the Right Kind of Caveats.
In 2021, I concluded an academic-year Nieman fellowship
and taught a new science journalism class I created for Harvard Summer School.
From 2015-2023 (March), I was the Digital Managing Editor at American Scientist.
During my years at American Scientist, I helped create the magazine's first digital-first feature (excerpted annotated video below), a long-term goal that began with running the redevelopment of the magazine's website.
See the full award-winning digital feature: Putting Eggs in Many Baskets.
Below, find some other highlights of my work there.
"New Website: Better, Faster, Stronger..."
From 2011-2015, I freelanced, experimented with storytelling,
reported on contract for PNAS, and contributed to The Science Writers' Handbook (Da Capo, 2013).
"Disabling Technology -- Don't Let Media Drive The Message"
From 2007-2011, I was on staff at Science magazine.
Officially, I was Associate Online Editor and promoted to Web Editor in 2009. Unofficially, I was Science's first multimedia journalist. Half of my work week was dedicated to the podcast as reporter, editor, producer, interviewer and host.
We took the podcast to the #3 spot in Science & Medicine podcasts on Apple's iTunes (now Apple Podcasts). It was also a "Staff Pick." Here's a representative of the weekly show featuring:
- researchers Kerry Kawakami, Laura Harrington, and Ron Hoy
- journalist Carl Zimmer
- Science's Deputy Editor Barbara Jasny and Online News Editor David Grimm
My beat was the original research published in Science. I also did original reporting for podcasts and videos, helped to launch the magazine's various social media feeds/channels, and contributed to multiple-media online projects.
Embedded above is an on-camera report I did and
here's a longer playlist of some of the videos I made at Science.
From 2005-2007, I was the inaugural Science Reporter at St. Louis Public Radio,
where I also contributed to NPR and The Associated Press.
The position was part-time and grant-funded, so I traveled down from my home in Michigan each week. I spent two nights in the dorms on the campus of the University of Missouri - St. Louis, where the station was located at the time. I produced a lot of stories, won an Excellence in Journailsm award from the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists, and even got a few stories on the national network.
From 2003-2005, I freelanced—finishing up my master's degree in applied mathematics in 2004—and during that time also reported stories for the NPR network and wrote my first major newspaper story, which was published by The Dallas Morning News.
I got my start as a science journalist in 2003
thanks to a AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship
while pursuing my master's degree in applied mathematics.
I produced two dozen stories that fellowship summer for Community Radio for Northern Colorado (KUNC-FM). This one below I pitched to the network—my first national story.
