Re: Science Journalism Improvement Program

Thanks for reaching out. Don't worry about not having done high-level freelance work; I'll edit your first piece and give you some pointers.

Send me a short list of the fields you'd be interested in writing about and I'll put you down as a writer and will eventually pair you with a scientist of compatible background.

I'll have my associate Clark Robinson send you some additional information about Project PM and our fundamental goals, which involve the development and promotion of improved methods of collaboration and information flow. We have a number of documents you might find interesting, and our more active participants tend to congregate in our new IRC channel which itself may be accessed at irc.freenode.net, #projectpm (I recommend Xchat if you're new to IRC, but Clark will send along a short guide including other methods of getting on).

Let me know if you have any questions, and thanks again for participating in this program.

On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 4:44 PM, Amy Dahl <amy@oakhillkennel.com> wrote:

Dear Barrett Brown,

I am interested in this project and would love to get involved
if there is a place for me. I don't exactly fit the categories you
described but am extremely concerned about the issue of
communication of scientific information to the lay public.

I'm a pretty low-level freelance writer with a bimonthly
column in a magazine on dogs and my first sole-author book
(on dog training) in press.

Although I now work as a dog trainer I have a PhD in Physical
Chemistry plus post-doc and three years of college teaching.
Having read plenty of scientific articles and having been on
both sides of the peer review process I have the ability to
critically read scientific publications and to know, for example,
that a conclusion (the data support X) is meaningful only in
the context of the experimental design (is the result significant?
is it accurate?) and the scope (breadth) of the study, which
is often so miniscule there is no real-world application.

I tear my hair over the scientific ignorance of the general
public and the awfulness of what journalism transmits regarding
science, and would love to be part of an effort to improve
communication.

Sincerely,

Amy Dahl