Student Journalists in the Field: Bridging the Gap Between Science and Communication

Abstract:

The Remote, In Situ, and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration (RIS4E) team is one of nine nodes of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. A core goal of the RIS4E Education and Communication (E&C) plan is to increase the accessibility of science to the general public, both by teaching scientists how to communicate their work to the public and by training the next generation of science journalists.

During the Spring 2015 semester, eight Stony Brook University journalism students, ranging from Sophomores through M.A. students, participated in a new Science Journalism course in the School of Journalism. During the semester, the students learned about the science being conducted by the RIS4E team, took field trips to labs, interviewed scientists and graduate students, and produced print and video pieces about the science and the scientists. As a capstone project, five of the students, along with a professor and TA, were embedded with the RIS4E field geology team during their 2015 field season at the 1974 Kilauea lava flow on the Big Island of Hawaii. During their time in Hawaii, the journalism students had complete access to the field team, both during work and after-work hours. For each of the students, it was their first exposure to the practice of science, made possible through the experience of watching scientists formulate and test hypotheses in real time. They posted daily blog updates about the work being done by the field team and acquired dozens of hours of video footage to be produced into longer pieces.

This presentation will describe the unique Stony Brook Science Journalism course and the experiences of the students both in the classroom and in the field. We will highlight both the successes and the lessons learned, for both the students and the scientists involved, and discuss our plans to conduct a second class in 2017, when the students will accompany the RIS4E field team to the Potrillo Volcanic Field in New Mexico.