Past events
We organize several events per year
Can consciousness be computed? Can death be reversed? An evening with neuroscientist Christof Koch
In his new book The Feeling of Life Itself, Christof Koch outlines a quantitative theory of consciousness that suggests it is far more widespread than commonly assumed and is not some kind of computation or hack. And writing in Scientific American, Koch discusses the...
Volcano Camping Adventure at Mount St. Helens
NSWA experienced the majesty, awesome destruction, and amazing rebirth of the Pacific Northwest’s most violent volcano on our first-ever camping adventure Aug. 2 - Aug. 4. Hosted by the Mount St. Helens Institute, we saw parts of the national monument that few ever...
Searching for solutions to the opioid epidemic
The opioid epidemic is taking the U.S., by storm, with people dying every day from opioid-related drug overdoses. But within what seems to be a bleak situation, researchers are looking at interventions to treat opioid addiction and related overdoses. NSWA hosted an...
Trivia Night at Floating Bridge Brewing Co.
We grabbed our thinking caps for our second-annual NSWA Science Trivia Night on May 22 at Floating Bridge Brewing Co. Building on the success of last year's spring social event, this special NSWA-organized quiz game was hosted by Geeks Who Drink. We showed off our...
Mixer with grad students interested in science communication
NSWA mixed and mingled with the next generation of science communicators by joining the ComSciCon-Pacific Northwest participants on April 12 at Optimism Brewing on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Nearly 60 grad students from fields in science, engineering, technology and...
Finding Your Data Story with Tableau Public
Ever wanted to incorporate data into your storytelling? From interactive maps to engaging graphs and charts, this workshop on March 25 helped us understand how to turn raw data into compelling visualizations ready to share online, using Tableau...
Tour of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) with CEO Oren Etzioni
Can a computer ace a high school biology exam? What about navigate a typical household, or play Pictionary? At the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2), researchers are working on these questions, among others. CEO Oren Etzioni gave us an overview of...
NSWA 2019 Holiday Party and Annual Membership Meeting
2019 Holiday Party and Annual Membership Meeting We let our inner geeks out to play on Jan. 10 during our Holiday Party and Annual Meeting at Paul Allen’s Living Computers Museum + Labs. We talked shop and had fun with science-writing peers as we built and operated...
Chat with Ben Goldfarb, author of ‘Eager’
Environmental writer Ben Goldfarb spoke to Glenn Nelson, founder of The Trail Posse, about his new book, Eager: The surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter, on Dec. 13 at The Elliott Bay Book Company. Goldfarb joined interested NSWA members in...
The Art of Feature Writing With Jacqui Banaszynski, Brooke Jarvis, and Craig Welch
For writers, synthesizing information from research and interviews to produce a story is a challenging task. And it can even be more complex for those writing features, longform stories, or even books. On Nov. 28 at University House, we learned ways to think about...
‘First Man’ with NSWA and Geoff Nunn from Museum of Flight
Geoff Nunn, adjunct curator of space history at The Museum of Flight, joined us for an IMAX screening of “First Man” on Oct. 20 at the Pacific Science Center. After the movie, we got to chat about how it represented Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 space mission....
Show Me the Science
This panel on Oct. 6 at Lane Community College in Portland, Oregon focused on story ideas, tips and resources you need to dig deeper into science-based stories such as opioids, climate change and more. The event was organized in partnership with the Northwest Science...
The Art of the Interview
Whether you’re a print journalist, multimedia producer, or PIO, interviewing is hugely important to your work. On Sept. 27 at the Seattle Times Building, we delved into best practices for interviewing sources: how to prepare, put your interviewees at ease, ask...
Chat with David Quammen
The discovery that genes can jump from one species to another radically shifted scientists' understanding of the tree of life. In his latest book, bestselling author David Quammen guides us through stories of the new technologies and discoveries that are transforming...
Wildfire Talks
Note: First few minutes of presentation not available in recording above. Wildfires in the western United States have become increasingly more common. They burn through forests, damage the ecology and threaten property and lives. Even the careful science of tackling...