Marine Biological Laboratory Announces 2024 Logan Science Journalism Fellows

WOODS HOLE, Mass. –Twelve outstanding science and health journalists have been awarded a highly competitive fellowship in the Logan Science Journalism Program at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL).

Now in its 37th year, the Logan Science Journalism Program provides journalists with immersive, hands-on research training, giving them invaluable insight into the practice of science as well as some of the major news stories of today. The program, which offers a Biomedical course and an Environmental course, will run May 13-23 in Woods Hole.

Biographies for the 2024 Logan Science Journalism Fellows are here. They are:

Biomedical Fellows

Pakinam Amer, Independent Writer, Podcaster and Digital Storyteller (Cairo, Egypt)

Lorraine Boissoneault, Producer, Real Science

Karen Brown, Senior Reporter, New England Public Radio

Crystal Chow, Independent Journalist (Hong Kong, S.A.R)

Alok Gupta, Freelance Journalist (Chicago, IL)

Neil Swidey, Editor-at-Large, Boston Globe Magazine

Environmental Fellows

Mark Alpert, Science Journalist and Novelist (New York, NY)

Lindsey Botts, Digital Editor, Sierra Magazine

Jessica Hester, Independent Author and Journalist (Baltimore, MD)

Blythe Terrell, Executive Editor, Science Vs. Podcast

Eva Tesfaye, Coastal Reporter, WWNO (New Orleans Public Radio)

Tracy Tullis, Environment Reporter, Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.)

The 2023 Logan Science Journalism Biomedical Fellows in the lab. Credit: Blacki Migliozzi

Learning by Doing

In the program’s Biomedical Hands-On Research Course, fellows learn fundamental techniques and approaches that underpin current biomedical science. Guided by senior scientists, they undertake pioneering technologies for imaging and analyzing the human microbiome; genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9; and DNA sequencing and analysis. They will also have ample opportunity to discuss concepts and innovations in biological and biomedical science with the program’s faculty.

In the Environmental Hands-On Research Course, fellows conduct field research at a barrier beach, salt marsh, and watershed ecosystem on Cape Cod. They discover the complex ways that added nitrogen alters coastal ecosystems, including their capacity to keep up with sea-level rise and impacts on marine life and coastal food webs.

All fellows collect, analyze, and interpret research data, which they present at a mini-symposium at the close of the fellowship. They also have opportunities to explore the rich scientific resources in Woods Hole.

2023 Logan Science Journalism Program Environmental Fellows Annalee Newitz and Morgan Krakow sampling Credit Barbara Moran

2023 Logan Science Journalism Program Environmental Fellows Annalee Newitz and Morgan Krakow sampling at Waquoit Bay, Cape Cod. Credit: Barbara Moran

Imaging the mouth microbiome in the Logan Science Journalism Biomedical lab. Credit: Charles Bergquist

The Biomedical Hands-On Research Course is co-directed by Joshua Rosenthal, Ph.D., senior scientist in the MBL’s Bell Center, and Scott Chimileski, Ph.D., research scientist in the MBL’s Bay Paul Center. The course’s journalism advisor is Maryn McKenna, journalist, author and Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of Human Health at Emory University.

The Environmental Hands-On Research Course is directed by James McClelland, Ph.D., senior scientist in the MBL Ecosystems Center, with faculty Javier Lloret, Ph.D., research scientist in the Ecosystems Center. Science journalist/producer Angela Posada-Swafford is the course’s journalism advisor.

Over the years, the Logan Science Journalism Program has granted fellowships to hundreds of journalists from prominent news organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Science, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, USA Today, CNN, and Scientific American.

The Logan Science Journalism Program is sponsored by George & Helen H.B. Logan, Friends and Alumni of the Science Journalism Program, Golden Family Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Irving Weinstein Foundation, Inc., Ross Foundation, and the Byron H. Waksman Fund for Excellence in Science Communication.

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The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery – exploring fundamental biology, understanding marine biodiversity and the environment, and informing the human condition through research and education. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution and an affiliate of the University of Chicago.