MBL awards journalism fellowships

Biology 'boot camp' to provide reporters with hands-on science training in Woods Hole, Alaska and Antarctica

Sixteen science writers and editors have been awarded prestigious Science Journalism Fellowships from the MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory), an internationally known biomedical and environmental research and educational center located in the village of Woods Hole, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.

Now in its 23rd year, the MBL's Science Journalism Program allows established science journalists from around the globe to "step into the shoes of the scientists they cover" by immersing themselves in the process of basic biomedical and environmental research.

The fellowship program offers two hands-on courses. The biomedical course provides journalists hands-on science training in Woods Hole during the MBL's famed summer research season, when hundreds of biologists gather at the institution from around the world to conduct research and to teach and learn advanced-level science and research techniques. The polar course gives journalists the unparalled opportunity to travel to MBL field stations in Alaska and Antarctica to be a part of some of today's most cutting-edge ecological research.

This year's MBL Science Journalism Fellows are:

Biomedical Fellows

Marie Alpman, Ny Teknik
Jeffrey Evans, International Medical News Group
Sam Kean, Science & Spirit
Kathiann Kowalski, Freelance
Lisa Jarvis, Chemical & Engineering News
Emily Stone, Freelance

Polar Fellows

Alan Burdick*, Author & Freelance Writer
Scott Canon*, National Correspondent, The Kansas City Star
Nancy Cohen, Environmental Reporter, WNPR
Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, Senior Writer, Sacramento Bee
Christine Dell'Amore, Editor, National Geographic News
Leslie Dodson, Freelance Science Correspondent, NBC WeatherPlus
Marilia Melo Juste Dini, Reporter, G1/Globo.com
Richard Morgan, Freelance
Jason Orfanon*, Producer, National Geographic Television
Wade Rawlins, Environmental Reporter, The News & Observer

*also selected for additional month at Palmer Station, Antarctica

During their residencies, fellows will learn what science is like from the inside out. In early June, biomedical fellows will participate a hands-on laboratory course that will explore techniques used in biomedical research—sequencing DNA, cloning, and PCR (polymerase chain reaction), for example.