Speakers

Speakers

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WK
NASW workshop
NH
CASW New Horizons in Science
LL
Lunch with a Luminary

  • NH
    Ari Brown

    Pediatrician; founder and chief executive officer, 411 Pediatrics, Austin, Texas

    In private practice for 20 years, Ari Brown is an author, child health advocate, and a mom. She received her BS in child development and family relationships from the University of Texas at Austin, her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed her pediatric residency and fellowship training in developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. Passionate about educating families about children’s health, she is the author of the bestselling "411" parenting book series, including Baby 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice for your Baby’s First Year (Windsor Peak Press, 7th Edition 2015), Expecting 411, and Toddler 411. She serves as a medical advisor for Parents magazine and a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics and speaks to healthcare professionals and parenting groups across the country regarding accurate and compassionate health communications with families. Brown currently chairs the AAP Children, Adolescents, and Media Leadership Working Group, charged with addressing the evolving role technology plays in the lives of children, and was honored with the AAP Advocacy Award in 2012. Twitter: @baby411

    Speaking:

  • LL
    Vladimir Bulovic

    Associate Dean for Innovation and Fairborz Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Prof. Bulovic is director of MIT’s Organic and Nanostructured Electronics Lab, which studies the properties of organic thin films, structures, and devices to develop practical optoelectronic, electronic, and photonic devices at nanoscale thickness. He’s also the founder of three startups: QD Vision, a maker of quantum dot optoelectronic components; Kateeva, a maker of printed organic electronics; and Ubiquitous Energy Inc., which is developing nanostructured solar technologies. At MIT, Bulovic’s recent work has focused on applications of quantum dots in advanced solar cells and displays. As associate dean for innovation, he is one of the leaders of a campus-wide initiative aimed at making MIT a more hospitable place for market-oriented innovation and providing students, faculty, staff, and alumni with a stronger set of entrepreneurial skills. At the same time, he’s leading the design and construction of MIT.nano, a high-profile project to build a flagship 200,000-square-foot building for nanoscale research at the heart of the MIT campus.

    Speaking:

  • NH
    Sallie W. "Penny" Chisholm

    Institute Professor of environmental studies and professor of biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Penny Chisholm is a biological oceanographer who holds a joint appointment between MIT's departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Biology. Her research focuses on understanding of the role of microorganisms in shaping marine ecosystems. It is centered on understanding the biology and ecology of Prochlorococcus, the smallest and most abundant photosynthetic microorganism on Earth. Discovered only 30 years ago, it numerically dominates large regions of the world’s oceans and is responsible for a sizable fraction of ocean photosynthesis. In addition to her scientific publications, Chisholm has published (with Molly Bang) three award-winning children’s picture books — Living Sunlight, Ocean Sunlight, and Buried Sunlight — which describe the central role of photosynthesis in shaping life on Earth. Chisholm has been a member of the MIT Faculty since 1976. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has been a Guggenheim Fellow, and has received the Alexander Agassiz Medal, the Margalef Prize in Ecology, and the National Medal of Science. Twitter: @ChisholmLab_MIT

    Speaking:

  • NH
    Michael J. Cima

    David H. Koch professor of engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Michael Cima is a professor of materials science and engineering at MIT and holds an appointment at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. He is author or co-author of more than 250 scientific publications and 58 U.S. patents and is a recognized expert in the field of materials processing. Cima is actively involved in materials and engineered systems for improvement in human health such as treatments for cancer, metabolic diseases, trauma, and urological disorders. His research concerns advanced forming technology such as for complex macro- and microdevices, colloid science, microelectromechanical systems and other microcomponents for medical devices used for drug delivery and diagnostics. In the early 1990s, Cima co-invented one of the first practical 3D printers. He is also the top faculty member at the Lemelson-MIT Program, which makes awards to recognize promising collegiate and mid-career inventors and funds STEM education initiatives at the high school level. His honors include election to the National Academy of Engineering in 2011. Twitter: @MichaelJCima

    Speaking:

  • WK
    Catherine Clabby

    Senior editor, Wilson Digital Inc.; Editorial director, Behavioral Science & Policy; Freelance writer/editor

    Cathy Clabby is a science writer and editor with experience in newspaper, magazine, digital book and academic publishing. Her current project uses the ancient story of malaria to teach high school students about the life sciences, including evolution, ecology, cell biology and drug development. A former Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, Clabby was senior editor of EO Wilson's Life on Earth, the digital-only biology textbook series published in 2014 that blended the talents of educators, multimedia artists, 3D animators and textbook professionals. During her career, Clabby also has been a senior editor at American Scientist magazine and a science reporter for the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. For six years, while on staff and later as a contributing editor, Clabby created “Sightings,” American Scientist’s science visualization column.

    Speaking:

  • WK
    Jennifer Weston Cox

    Director of Communication, North Carolina State University College of Engineering

    At NCSU, Jenny Cox directs all aspects of communication and marketing, including developing marketing and media relations strategies; designing and producing publications; designing and managing website; planning events; and writing news, magazine and feature articles on engineering research. In addition to her duties as communications director, Cox sits on the College of Engineering’s Executive Committee, is an ex officio member of the NC State Engineering Foundation College Relations Committee, and sits on the university’s State COMM advisory board. She is a member of the board of directors of Science Communicators of North Carolina, works on NASW’s Programs Committee, and served as NC State’s co-coordinator, with Steve Townsend, for the highly successful ScienceWriters 2012 conference.

    Organizing:

  • WK
    June Cross

    Writer, professor, documentarian, Columbia Journalism School

    June Cross is an award-winning documentarian and writer and a professor at Columbia Journalism School. She is currently working on a documentary about HIV in rural America called “Wilhemina’s War;" her last film, "The Old Man and the Storm," on a family dispersed by Hurricane Katrina, aired on PBS Frontline in 2009. Her Emmy-winning 1997 film Secret Daughter, about her family’s complex experience of race in America, was the basis for her 2006 memoir of the same name, published by Viking. She has been a producer and executive producer for PBS’s Frontline and MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and for CBS. She holds a B.A. from Harvard and has been a fellow at Carnegie-Mellon University’s School of Urban and Public Affairs and Harvard’s WEB DuBois Institute for Afro-American Studies.

    Speaking:

  • WK
    Tim De Chant

    Senior digital editor, NOVA Next

    Tim De Chant is the senior digital editor at NOVA, where he’s the founding editor of NOVA Next, and a lecturer in MIT’s graduate program in science Writing. He has also written for Wired, the Chicago Tribune, and Ars Technica, among others, and he blogs at Per Square Mile. Tim was selected as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow in 2008, and before turning to science journalism, he received his Ph.D. in landscape ecology.

    Speaking:

    Organizing:

  • LL
    Michelle Dipp

    Chief executive officer and co-founder, OvaScience

    Dr. Dipp is the founding Chief Executive Officer of OvaScience and serves on the Board of Directors. Dr. Dipp is also a Founder and Partner of Longwood Fund, a healthcare investment fund. Previously, Dr. Dipp was the Senior Vice President and Head of the CEEDD at GlaxoSmithKline. Prior, she was Vice President of Corporate Development at Sirtris prior to its acquisition by GSK. Before joining Sirtris, Dr. Dipp worked in healthcare private equity at The Wellcome Trust, London. Dr. Dipp serves on the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) Emerging Companies Governing Board, the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) Board, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Board of Directors, the Boston Symphony Orchestra Board of Overseers, and the MassBio Advisory Board. Dr. Dipp holds an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford.

    Speaking:

  • WK
    Elie Dolgin

    News editor, Stat

    Elie Dolgin is a news editor at Stat, a new life sciences publication from Boston Globe Media. He previously worked as a senior news editor at Nature Medicine after stints as a biomedical reporter at Nature and as an associate editor at The Scientist. Elie’s work has appeared in Discover, Scientific American, Nautilus, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from McGill University and earned his PhD in evolutionary genetics from the University of Edinburgh.

    Speaking:

  • LL
    Mildred Dresselhaus

    Institute Professor, Professor of Physics (emerita), Professor of Electrical Engineering (emerita), Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Professor Mildred Dresselhaus, known as the “queen of carbon science,” researches a wide range of topics in condensed matter and materials physics. She is best known for her work on carbon nanostructures, as well as nanoscience and nanotechnology more generally. She is also one of the researchers responsible for the resurgence of the thermoelectrics research field through her early work on low-dimensional thermoelectricity in the early 1990s. She co-chaired a Department of Energy study on Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy in 2003 and more recently co-chaired the National Academy Decadal Study of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics.

    Professor Dresselhaus is a native of the Bronx, and attended New York City public schools through junior high school, and Hunter College High School. She began her independent career in 1960 as a member of the research staff at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory after her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago (1958) and a two-year postdoc at Cornell University. During that time she switched from research on superconductivity to magneto-optics, and carried out a series of experiments that led to a fundamental understanding of the electronic structure of semi-metals, especially graphite.

    This led to her appointment as an MIT faculty member and eventually to appointment as an institute professor in the departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering. She served as the director of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy in 2000-01, and has been an officer in many national organizations in physics, engineering, and related areas. Honors and awards include 31 honorary doctorates worldwide, and the National Medal of Science, the Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service, the Compton Award, the Fermi Prize, the Kavli Prize, and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

    Professor Dresselhaus has co-authored more than 1,700 publications including books, book chapters, invited review articles, and peer-reviewed journal articles. She remains involved in activities that promote the increased participation of women in science and engineering. She is an enthusiastic chamber music player where she plays violin and viola, and enjoys spending time with her husband, four children, and five grandchildren.

    Speaking:

  • NH
    Kerry Emanuel

    Cecil and Ida Green professor of atmospheric science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Kerry Emanuel joined the faculty of MIT, his alma mater, in 1981 after three years on the UCLA faculty. His research focuses on tropical meteorology and climate, with a specialty in hurricane physics. His interests also include cumulus convection, and advanced methods of sampling the atmosphere in aid of numerical weather prediction. He is the author or co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers. His books include Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes (Oxford University Press, 2005), and What We Know about Climate Change (MIT Press, 2007). Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2007, he is a co-director of MIT’s Lorenz Center, a climate think tank devoted to basic, curiosity-driven climate research.

    Speaking:

  • WK
    Erika Engelhaupt

    Online science editor, National Geographic

    Erika Engelhaupt is the online science editor at National Geographic. She also manages the Phenomena blog network, where she writes the blog Gory Details. She was previously a deputy managing editor at Science News magazine, a senior associate editor covering climate change at Environmental Science and Technology, and has written and performed for NPR, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Story Collider, the Boulder, Colo. Daily Camera, and other publications. She lives in Washington, D.C.

    Pitch Guidelines

    If you have a current contract with NG Digital Media, email pitches to newsroom@ ngs.org (which reaches all the news editors). Please begin each pitch with a proposed headline and one- or two-sentence dek, such as:

    Congo Gorilla Killings Fueled by Illegal Charcoal Trade
    Last month's gorilla "executions" are the result of a burgeoning illicit charcoal trade that includes government officials, wildlife rangers allege.

    Unless you are pitching a very time-sensitive, short lead-time (for example, same day) story that requires immediate approval, please also write a summary of the story as you see it so far—no longer than 200 words. The summary should make clear what angle(s) you plan to follow and what the main points of your story likely will be. We understand that the angle of the story may change as you report it, but this method helps the editors better evaluate your pitch.

    Other items we like to see in pitches:

    • The people or types of people you will seek out for comment
    • A copy of any press release, study, newspaper article, or other source to which your pitch refers, if applicable. If you are covering a study, please try to send a copy with you pitch, especially if it's not from one of the major journals (Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, etc.)
    • Any leads on photos or other imagery
    • Any embargoes or other publishing restrictions.

    Please always let us know if you have written, or are writing, a similar story for another publication. In rare cases, we approve of our writers covering the same news for another outlet if the treatment is significantly different, but we ask that you let us make that decision before we assign you the job.

    If we decide to assign the story, we'll respond with a maximum word count and deadline. If we neglect to give you these, please ask.

    SAMPLE PITCH….

    PROPOSED, TENTATIVE HEADLINE
    Hurricanes foster bat diversity

    PROPOSED, TENTATIVE DEK
    Though usually harmful, hurricanes also strengthen bat populations by literally picking up the animals and redistributing them in other islands, a Caribbean study shows.

    STORY SUMMARY
    That strong hurricanes decimate bird and bat populations is certain,
    but now a new study finds that there is a silver lining too. They can
    lead to increased genetic diversity.

    The research team analyzed bat population responses to three strong
    hurricanes that struck the northern West Indies in 2004. They found
    that while the hurricanes severely depressed bat populations in Grand
    Cayman, they also increased DNA diversity.

    The team suggests that hurricane winds literally blew bats from
    different islands into the Grand Cayman population. These newly
    introduced bats injected their foreign DNA into the population and
    dramatically increased genetic diversity.

    While this is very exciting, the researchers caution that hurricanes
    do not always do this as they found that in the Bahamas, changes in
    genetic diversity did not follow Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.
    Clearly, the right populations need to be on the right islands in the
    right storm for genetic diversity to follow from a hurricane.

    SOURCE OF STUDY
    This will appear next month in the journal Biotropica. It is not embargoed. I have attached a copy of the study as a whole.

    PROPOSED INTERVIEWEES
    I'd speak to one of the study authors and a biologist unaffiliated with the study who has documented harmful effects of hurricanes on bats.

    IMAGE POTENTIAL
    There are good photos and a short video of the bats in question available with the study.

    Speaking:

  • WK
    Jeanne Erdmann

    Freelance science writer and co-founder, The Open Notebook

    Jeanne Erdmann is an award-winning health and science writer based in Wentzville, Mo. Her work has appeared in Discover, Women's Health, Nature Medicine, Aeon, Slate, and the Washington Post, among other publications. She is co-founder and editor at large at The Open Notebook.

    Speaking:

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