The NASW professional development workshops are chosen by a committee of members from proposals submitted by members in March of each year and organized by volunteers. The scientific sessions for the New Horizons in Science Briefings are chosen solely by program director Rosalind Reid. The program draws speakers from around the country, including a portion from the host institution.
NASW student members interested in volunteering can help out at the meeting for a few hours in exchange for free registration. To commit, email workshops@nasw.org. Slots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, and you must be an NASW student member.
Attendance at ScienceWriters is subsidized to keep your costs low.
Attendance at the workshops is heavily subsidized by NASW. Thank you for attending!
Member Rate
$170 until September 17 Get your earlybird discount!
$195 September 18 thru close of Registration on October 16.
Student Member Rate
$75 thru close of Registration on October 10.
Non-member Rate (non-refundable)
$395 thru close of Registration on October 16.
All registration is handled securely online. Mail or phone in registrations are not accepted. Registration begins August 15 and closes on October 16. In order that we may keep our costs low by ensuring an accurate count, NO late or on-site registrations are accepted. Register here beginning August 15.
We've set up a Facebook page for ScienceWriters2013 to help you see whose coming and post inquiries like this. You can also tweet #sciwri13_room This is not an official roommate matching service, but rather an informal place for you to connect with other attendees.
Advance registration is required for the Annual Awards Reception, but there is no cost to attend the reception. Registration begins online on August 15. Join your colleagues to congratulate the winners of NASW's Science in Society Awards, the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting, and the Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists.
For questions regarding the professional development workshops, contact workshops@nasw.org or 510-647-9500. For questions about the New Horizons in Science briefings, contact programs@casw.org or 617-702-2798.
Several types of travel fellowships are available. Successful applicants will be notified by September 20.
Eligibility: The fellowships are intended primarily for journalists from smaller metropolitan print and broadcast news outlet, select freelancers and webcasters with a demonstrated interest in science writing.
Now more than ever, it is critical that policy makers and the public understand the importance of investing in science and engineering research. This workshop will introduce participants to science writers who work to communicate the outcomes of federally-funded scientific research to a diverse group of stakeholders. In addition to learning about the unique challenges and opportunities associated with communicating science on behalf of the federal government, the panelists will share information about specific media efforts and collaborations in place at their respective agencies. This workshop will be of interest to anyone interested in learning about career paths for science writers within the federal government, scientists and PIOs who are interested in learning how to promote their research accomplishments at the agency level, and editors and senior staff representing media organizations and publishing companies that are interested in pursuing media-content partnerships.
When science writing first became an established profession in the United States — dating back to the establishment of NASW in the 1930s — it was almost entirely a male profession. In the last few decades, of course, that has changed in revolutionary ways. Women are now a prominent part of the profession, both as writers and editors, influencing the direction of science writing today. But although there’s no denying that big picture change, it seems the right moment to assess the small picture details. How influential are we, actually? How prominent exactly? How far has this “revolution” taken us in terms of position, pay, influence, and recognition. In this interactive session, we’ll offer both a data-rich presentation of evidence and a discussion-focused panel to explore this questions, gather feedback, and perhaps even put together a report to be shared with others.
Note: Recent incidents in the science writing community have heightened interest in professional issues that affect our entire society. In order to accommodate this increased interest, we have moved "The XX Question," Session D1, which focuses on women in the profession of science writing, to a new time slot and larger room. The session will now be held from 5:00-6:30pm on Saturday, November 2 in Century Ballroom A. The Awards presentation has been moved back to accommodate the shift and will begin at 7:00pm in the theatre at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, a short walk from the hotel and conference center.
The session may also present an opportunity for interested attendees to discuss a way forward for the science writing community. To foster trust and respect at our conferences, discussion in any session should be framed as a collaborative and reflective opportunity. As with any session or conference event, participants should treat each other with dignity and respect and refrain from offensive or charged comments that create a hostile environment for any attendee.
To assist in creating a respectful environment in which panelists and discussants can be truly heard, we ask that attendees refrain from using social media during this particular session. Even though we will attempt to create a social-media free space in which attendees devote attention to listening, as with all sessions comments and presentations are still considered to be made in public. The session will also be videotaped for potential distribution to the larger science writing community unable to attend the meeting.
