Writing About Flagstaff Science Reporting for The Arizona Daily Sun Kevin Bertram, undergraduate journalism and history major at Northern Arizona University

How hard can writing about science be? Science journalism requires the writer to take some very complex concepts… Geology / Hydrology Astronomy / Astrometry Astrogeology Modern Archaeology … and reduce them down to something that is not only concise, but easy for all readers to understand.

“Astronaut transfixes Science Festival kickoff crowd” Published on Sunday, Sept. 25, Each year, the Flagstaff Festival of Science has a keynote speaker who kicks off the event. This year, it was John Grunsfeld, a veteran of three NASA space missions. His work focused on the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo courtesy Jessie Kellerman (The Lumberjack) Grunsfeld: “Now, I can say without any hesitation, that I love going into space and working on big telescopes. Space is really magical.”

My writing “But, in the end, the audience would be brought back down to Earth by the question posed by a young boy to the keynote speaker of this week's Flagstaff Festival of Science: What does it take to be an astronaut?”

“Telling time from the stars” Published on Saturday, Oct. 1, On the eve of their once- annual Open House, the U.S. Naval Observatory (bottom) outside of Flagstaff showed off its impressive collection of telescopes and equipment. For this story, I interviewed facility Director Paul Shankland (top) Shankland: “"When we work at the levels of accuracy we're talking about, we have to also understand the 'faintnesses,' or photometry, of stars.”

Science Writer’s 2011 Conference By luck, the Fall 2011 National Association of Science Writers conference was held in Flagstaff. First day: Information about freelancing as a science journalist, using social media, etc. Second day: Presentations from prominent national scientists.

Why is social media important? Helps journalists communicate information quickly and concisely – A major challenge when writing about science! Social media allows journalists to reach new audiences – As the readers go online, so must the reporters

@Jason_p_deleon has finished his presentation about southern #AZ border crossings here at #NAU #sciwri11 #Flagstaff The talk by #NAU researcher Jut Wynne about underground lifeforms and cave ecosystems is about to get started #sciwri11 #Flagstaff Wynne: What we learn about cave ecosystems on Earth can help with the search for underground life on other planets, such as Mars #sciwri11 Wynne: Recreational use of caves is on the rise, groundwater is disappearing as humans expand. Threaten bat habitats #sciwri11 Social Media Usage

“Don’t call it trash” Published on Thursday, Oct. 20, At the conference, Prof. Jason de Leon (right) of the University of Michigan spoke about his work studying what is left behind by illegal immigrants in the Sonoran Desert. De Leon: “I want to convince you that this is not just garbage: this is archaeology.” Socio-political implications of scientific inquiry. Photo courtesy of The Arizona Daily Sun.

My writing “As the adage goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Except Jason De Leon would prefer you did not call it "trash." For him and the students involved with his project, the random refuse left behind in the southern Arizona desert by illegal immigrants moving north is an archaeological treasure trove.”

“Postcard from Mars” Published on Saturday, Jan. 25, Prof. Jim Bell of ASU gave a presentation titled, “Postcards from Mars,” at NAU. Presentation focused on the journey made by the two current NASA rovers on Mars, Spirit and Opportunity. Focus: Using robotic geologists to find out what Mars was once like. “Postcards from Mars” Photos courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech My writing: “Bell said that understanding Mars requires humans -- and our analogues -- to get much more intimate with our red neighbor than an observatory like Lowell can allow. He explains the entire purpose for current NASA missions to the surface of the planet is to test a hypothesis: that Mars was once a very different place than it is presently.”

Future Projects and Continued Work Looking into future of aquifers in northern Arizona – Contentions surrounding water rights – How aquifers are replenished Other projects / finishing current stories going into the summer Photo courtesy of NASA

Conclusions / Lessons The hardest part about writing about science is finding things to write about – Better communication between scientific community, journalists? Social media is extremely important to the future of science journalism – How do we use social media as a means of reporting? Science journalism is all about learning, for readers and reporters alike

Special Thanks To… Randy Wilson, Editor of The Arizona Daily Sun Kathleen Stigmon, Sr. Program Coordinator for the NAU / NASA Space Grant, NAU Nadine Barlow, NAU / NASA Space Grant Director, NAU The Arizona Space Grant Consortium The National Association of Science Writers The Arizona Daily Sun