I report, write, edit, review, design, draw, produce, host, speak, code, teach, consult....
Since becoming the inaugural Chief Content Officer / Editor-in-Chief at the Global Virus Network (April, 2023), I've been working on lots of new media projects as well as a strategic plan for the organization that will help, I believe, in how we—as a world—better prevent future pandemics.
This semester, I'm serving as a Capstone Director for a journalism masters student who is reporting on science.
Last semester, I taught podcasting for Harvard's journalism program.
Previously, in additon to teaching podcasting and serving as a Capstone Director, I proposed and taught a new course for Harvard about reporting on climate change. I wrote an article about it for Nieman Reports titled Why Climate Change Stories Need More Context.
I also
helped to produce American Scientist'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.
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.
"New Website: Better, Faster, Stronger..."
"Hungry Little Beasts"
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). Here's a representative 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.
Here's a playlist of some 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 full time—including writing my first major newspaper story for 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 KUNC-FM. This one I pitched to the network—my first national story.
