Science Writing for the General Public

Although scientists once considered popular science writing as merely a “hobby,” attitudes are changing. Writing clearly about science for a general audience is challenging, but crucial to educating the public about the results and significance of scientific research.

The University Writing Program’s second annual Conversations with Writers series will explore techniques of science writing for a general audience with two public lectures by renowned scientists: physicist James Trefil, author of Human Nature: Managing the Planet By and For Humans, and psychologist Gary Marcus, author of Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind. These lectures are cosponsored by the Plant Genomics  Program.

To accompany this lecture series, the Writing in the Disciplines Program will offer a workshop on science writing for a lay audience.

All events are free and open to the public.

How do you make your science accessible to the general public?  This workshop covers techniques for understanding your audience and for using hooks, narrative, human interest and clear explanations to popularize your science.

A writing instructor at UC Davis since 1984, Amy Clarke specializes in scientific writing and has led workshops on writing grants, abstracts, scientific articles, and dissertations.  Dr. Clarke was awarded an Academic Federation Professional Development Leave for spring 2008 to integrate the work of research scientists into the UWP scientific writing curriculum.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Graduate Studies (Professional Development Series) and the University Writing Program.

Trained as a theoretical physicist, James Trefil contributed research in elementary particle physics, fluid mechanics, medical physics, and the earth sciences before he was wooed to George Mason to develop a science curriculum for general education.  Dedicated to advancing scientific literacy, Trefil teaches courses in the history of great ideas in physical, geological and biological science and the future of the development of cities, given technological advances in robotics, nanotechnology, and genetic engineering.  He serves as a contributing science editor for USA Today and science commentator for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Stations and he publishes regularly in the Smithsonian and Astronomy Magazines.  Author of Human Nature: Managing the Planet By and For Humans (2004), Are We Unique?: A Scientist Explores the Complexity of the Human Brain (1997) and A Scientist in the City (1994), he has also edited The Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (2002) and co-authored The Sciences: An Integrated Approach (4th ed., 2007), the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (4th ed., 2003), and Other Worlds: The Solar System and Beyond (1999).  He is currently serving as the chief science consultant in the development of a new middle school science curriculum.

For more information, please contact: Chris Thaiss cjthaiss@ucdavis.edu

                        Director, UWP

Director of the Infant Language Learning Center and Professor of Psychology at New York University, Gary Marcus writes about his research on developmental cognitive neuroscience for both academic and popular publications.  “Through the integrated study of psychology, linguistics, and molecular biology,” he writes, “I aim to understand the origins of the human mind.”   His books include, Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind (2008), The Birth of the Mind: How a Tiny Number of Genes Creates the Complexities of Human Thought (2004), and  The Algebraic Mind: Integrating Connectivism and Cognitive Science (2000).  He also edited a collection of the best of contemporary writing about human behavior, The Norton Psychology Reader (2006).  He regularly writes articles for Science, Nature, Cognition, Cognitive Psychology, and the Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

For more information on the science writing series, please contact: Amy Clarke (amclarke@ucdavis.edu).