events
Highlights from NSWA events, tours, and field tripsA Freelancer’s Life: Tales from the Trenches
NSWA members and guests joined the following panel of science writers at our monthly meeting on Dec. 10 to discuss freelancing. Ashley Braun works full time as a writer and editor at NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration in Seattle. But since 2011, she’s been a...
Ebola in the News
The Ebola outbreak in Africa has been dominating media coverage. Closer to home, NSWA gathered experts to talk about the outbreak from both medical and journalism points of view at our monthly meeting on Nov. 12 at University House. John Lynch, an infectious disease...
Writing Local Stories: From City Magazines to National Publications
We all know that Seattle -- and the Pacific Northwest in general -- is the best place in the world to live. But what makes a story in our little corner of the country worthy of coverage in a big-name publication? And how do you craft these stories differently for...
Success stories in science blogging
What makes a good blog post, and what sorts of content make readers click? Alan Boyle and Mary Guiden shared their success stories with NSWA members and guests at our monthly meeting on Sept. 10 at University House. Alan Boyle ( @b0yle ), science editor at NBC News...
NSWA Summer Party
As many of you know, we like to take a bit of a summer break from meetings. This year we decided to go into summer with a bang. We are had a no-host (that means you have to pony up the cash for food and drinks) party at Naked City Brewery on June 11.
Creating Interpretive Signage for Museums, Science Centers, Parks and Zoos (Yes, and Aquariums and Botanical Gardens, Too)
A panel of experts discussed the joys and sorrows of creating text for signs, kiosks and other interpretive materials at the monthly meeting on May 14 at University House. Our panelists (listed below) shared their collective knowledge about planning, writing, editing...
Big data: Delving deeper into the latest scientific buzzword
Has "big data" always existed, or has something changed in recent years to bring this catchphrase to the surface? What research is being conducted using big data, what repositories are available or being built, and what stories should science writers potentially cover...
ScienceOnline 2014 Recap: Burnout, Underserved Audiences and more…
Registration for the annual ScienceOnline "unconference" fills up within minutes and North Carolina is such a schlep from the Pacific NW. At our monthly meeting on March 12 at University House, NSWA members and guests heard highlights from NSWAians who managed to...
Communicating with Younger Audiences
Are poop jokes over-used? Does the word "DNA" need to be defined? Is particle physics just too hard to explain? These are the kinds of questions that come up when writing about science for kids. Panelists Emily Krieger, Beth Geiger, Eric Chudler and David George...
2014 NSWA Holiday Party
A hundred NSWA members, guests and friends met Jan. 9 at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle to eat, drink and get creative with our science-themed photobooth. Networking ensued. Catching up with old friends flourished. And mentoring abounded as those...
Ocean Acidification and the Media
Eric Swenson, communications and outreach director for the Global Ocean Health Program, discussed media coverage of ocean acidification with NSWA members and guests on Dec. 11 at University House. The program opened with a short scientific explanation of...
Alternative Funding Streams: How to Navigate the New World of Financing Science Writing
Rigorous, independent reporting is an essential public service. But how do we pay for it in the wake of dwindling budgets at traditional news outlets? Sara McCaslin and Robert McClure, two journalists who have raised money for in-depth reporting projects, shared their...
Come meet the scientists next door – Oct. 29 tour of the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center
Perched on a hill near Magnuson Park sits a small US Geological Survey (USGS) research facility that plays a big role globally in the development of aquatic science. USGS’s Western Fisheries Research Center provides a professional home to many international...
The Science of Scientific Fraud: What Writers Need to Know
Ferric Fang, MD, discussed how fraudulent research gets into prestigious journals at our monthly event on Sept. 11 at University House. Dr. Fang, a UW microbiologist, shared data on research misconduct and let science writers know what precautions to take. Fang is at...
The Science Writers’ Handbook: How freelance science writers stay solvent, stay sane, and tell stories that matter
Members and guests heard four co-authors of talk about how the project came together and what they learned in the process at the monthly NSWA meeting on June 12 at University House. Virginia Gewin ( @VirginiaGewin ) covers environmental issues—from food security to...