Past events
Highlights from NSWA events, tours, and field trips
Telling Stories: on culturally response Artificial Intelligence
Telling Stories: on culturally response Artificial Intelligence Member event (online) - March 18 2021 New technologies often export the assumptions, experiences, and values of their developers, assumptions that do not always carry over to different world views. A new...
Virtually Tour Seattle and Portland’s Urban Geology
Author and tour guide David B. Williams took us on a virtual tour of the urban geology of Seattle and Portland, revealing the fascinating stories in stone of these familiar Pacific Northwest cities.
NSWA 2021 Holiday Party and Annual Member Meeting
2021 Holiday Party and Annual Member Meeting NSWA members will come together virtually on January 7th for an evening of live science comedy, peer networking, writing awards, and expert presentations on the chemistry of cannabis and the archaeology of beer. With...
Because Facts Matter: Fact-Checking in Science Writing
In this free online event, three expert fact-checkers pull back the curtain to reveal how professional fact-checking works and the rising challenges these defenders of truth are facing.
NSWA/AAJA Science Trivia Night
NSWA partnered with the Seattle chapter of the Asian-American Journalists Association for a joint online science trivia night on Saturday, November 14.NSWA board member James Gaines served as quizmaster for this test of knowledge about science, science fiction,...
Decolonizing Science Communication II: Indigenizing Science Journalism and Uplifting Native Stories that Matter
In the second in a series of virtual panels focused on decolonizing science communication, we heard from two First Nations journalists working in British Columbia, Peru, and Brazil. The speakers guided us in Indigenizing journalism and uplifting stories about Native peoples that matter in our science writing.
Science Scavenger Hunt
NSWA's science-themed scavenger hunt concluded on Sunday, August 9 Thanks to all who participated, and congratulations to the winners: First prize: Sally James @jamesian Second prize: Linnea Stavney @LinneaStavney Third prize: Chris Tachibana @ChrisTachibana Players...
Decolonizing Science Communication: Exploring Indigenous Views on Science and Journalism
In the first in a series of virtual panels focused on decolonizing science communication, we heard from Native American journalists and a researcher who focuses on health disparities among American Indian and Alaska Native populations. The speakers guided us in learning to deconstruct the differences between Indigenous and Western world views and how each of those views shapes science and journalism.
NSWA Science Trivia Night
NSWA's third-annual NSWA Science Trivia Night was held on April 28 via Zoom from the comfort of our own couches.Yes, neither rain nor snow nor deadly RNA virus could keep NSWA members from completing six rounds of online trivia fun. Building on the success of our...
Night Out at the Museum – A Press Party for Science Writers
NSWA members and AAAS newsroom registrants gathered on Feb. 15 at NSWA’s free networking event and dance party at Seattle’s newest science museum, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.
2020 Annual Member Meeting
About 35 NSWA members gathered at Folio in Pike Place Market on January 16 for the annual NSWA member meeting. Board member Elizabeth Sharpe presented NSWA's first-annual Best of the Northwest Science Writing Awards, and outgoing president Jane Hu recounted highlights...
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...