Visiting Instructors

Distinguished visiting lecturers are a key part of the SciCom curriculum. They teach detailed seminars, in person or via Zoom. Many guests meet with students to provide editorial feedback.

Visitors are chosen for their desire to help new science writers and for their national prominence. Many students maintain contact with them after graduating from the program.

In 2019-20, the following visitors gave seminars and met privately with students or edited their work:

• Rhett Butler, founder and CEO of the international news site Mongabay.com. Subject: News articles about recent papers in environment and conservation.
• Julia Calderone '14, senior staff editor, The New York Times. Subject: Professional Web sites.
• Siri Carpenter, founder, The Open Notebook and President, National Association of Science Writers. Subject: Profile writing.
• Adam Mann '10, freelance writer. Subject: Pitching and publishing stories like this one in The New Yorker.
• Amy Maxmen, reporter, Nature. Subject: International reporting.
• Kendall Powell '02, freelance health and medical writer. Subject: Negotiating freelance contracts.
• Susanne Rust '03, staff writer, Los Angeles Times. Subject: Investigative features like this one on the U.S.'s nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands.
• Ben Welsh, investigative journalist, Los Angeles Times. Subject: Spring-quarter investigative reports.
• Alex Witze '93, contributor, Science News and Nature. Subject: Narrative features.