By Angel Kumari and Erin Rode
ScienceWriters2024 starts this Wednesday Oct. 16 with #SciWri24 Early Access — which means it's time for us to roll out the welcome for our wonderful attendees!
We both had an amazing time in Boulder last year, serving as NASW Conference Welcome Coordinators and assisting anyone attending ScienceWriters2023 as they connected with our science writing community and navigated our annual meeting. We especially loved helping out first-timers — and anyone else who needed a little encouragement to go talk to that colleague or seek out a peer or mentor.
Andrea Tamayo
With that, we’re so pleased to introduce your newest pair of NASW Conference Welcome Coordinators!
Andrea Tamayo
Andrea Tamayo (she/they) is a recent graduate of the UC Santa Cruz science communication program and is a current intern with the Your Local Epidemiologist newsletter. Andrea’s first ScienceWriters conference was SciWri23 in Boulder, CO, and she is a past recipient of the NASW Diversity Summer Fellowship. Follow Andrea on Twitter at @andreaxtamayo.
Saugat Bolakhe
Saugat Bolakhe (he/him) is a recent graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York and currently works as a freelance journalist. Saugat’s first ScienceWriters conference was the virtual conference of the SciWri21. And he is a past recipient of the NASW Diversity Summer Fellowship. His words have appeared in publications including Scientific American, Nature, Eos, Knowable magazine and others. Follow Saugat on social media at Saugat Bolakhe on LinkedIn and @saugat_optimist on Twitter.
Saugat and Andrea have been working with us, as well as with NASW Programs Committee chair and incoming NASW President Sandeep Ravindran (sun-deep, he/him), on various programming designed to help ease the experience for conference first-timers. You’ll also find us on the Whova app to answer questions and help direct traffic. Some things you can ask us about:
- First-timer’s buddy matching
- Fresh Faces Virtual Meetup
- Fresh Faces In-Person Meetup
- General tips and advice on making the most of ScienceWriters2024
We know that attending a professional conference for the first time with hundreds of new people can feel a little overwhelming, no matter your career stage. So, we’ll be here as your guides and conduits for any feedback for conference organizers. We also can attest, as former first-timers, that #SciWri24 will be an incredible experience full of networking possibilities, plus exciting inspirations for your career direction and professional skill set.
Do pop by to say hello — we’re so excited to see you this fall!
— Angel and Erin, with Andrea and Saugat
Left to Right: Andrea Tamayo, Saugat Bolakhe, Angel Kumari, Erin Rode, and Sandeep Ravindran.
Angel Kumari (she/her) and Erin Rode (she/her) began as NASW Conference Welcome Coordinators in 2023. This will be their second year volunteering with the NASW Programs Committee, overlapping with the incoming pair of coordinators. Angel Kumari is a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University Science Writing Program; she joined NASW in 2022 and is a past recipient of the NASW Diversity Summer Fellowship. Erin Rode is a freelance journalist and formerly the daily newspaper reporter on the environment beat at The Desert Sun, serving the Coachella Valley, California; she first attended #SciWri22 through a National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowship (SHERF) from CASW, AHCJ, and SEJ.
NASW members interested in supporting the NASW-CASW annual meetings can volunteer to serve on the NASW Programs Committee. Visit www.sciencewritersmeeting.org to explore past programs from ScienceWriters meetings, and bookmark www.sciencewriters2024.org for news and announcements for the 2024 conference.
Held each year, the ScienceWriters conferences provide a gathering place for professionals and students working across the science news landscape. From journalists to institutional writers, from editors to producers, from seasoned science communicators to those exploring science and technology beats, from mentors to students, the events provide opportunities for skills development, new tools practice, professional networking, and topic debates for every attendee.
A co-production of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW), the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW), and the Science Communicators of North Carolina, ScienceWriters2024 continues this tradition with craft and career workshops organized by NASW members, New Horizons in Science briefings curated by CASW, plus additional receptions and tours presented by partners and event sponsors. This is the first time the ScienceWriters annual conference, which began in 2005, has returned to a city: ScienceWriters2012 was hosted in Raleigh in partnership with University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, North Carolina State University, Duke University, and other institutions in October 2012. Learn more here, then register for the conference at www.sciencewriters2024.org/register
