A Special Lecture Series Presented by the MIT Program in Science, Technology, and Society and the Knight Science Journalism Program

Join us on Wednesday, April 2nd, from 5:15-6:45 pm in E51-145 for a special talk by Usha Lee McFarling

Radical Collaborations and Entrepreneurial Energy: Building a Thriving Science Journalism Ecosystem

From the moon landing to the sequencing of the human genome, science journalists have chronicled technology’s most transformational moments and its thorniest debates. Today, despite the critical need for such illumination and discussion, the field of science journalism faces threats both economic and political. In this talk, Usha will discuss the current landscape, and explore ways the field and its dedicated community of practitioners can meet these challenges through powerful new collaborations, an entrepreneurial spirit, and by embracing some of the central tenets of the humanities such as creativity, a focus on values, and deeper explorations of ambiguity. These new pathways are needed to ensure accurate information about science and technology reaches the general public for informed decision-making, an essential part of a functioning democracy, but also to allow that public to explore science more fully and to experience its beauty, joy, and wonder. 

About Usha Lee McFarling

Usha Lee McFarling is a national science correspondent for STAT. She previously reported for the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Knight Ridder Washington Bureau, and the San Antonio Light. Her work on the diseased state of the world’s oceans earned the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism and a 2006 Polk award. Her reporting has also earned the Victor Cohn prize for excellence in medical science reporting, the Bernard Lo, MD award in bioethics, and numerous other awards. Usha graduated from Brown University with a degree in biology and later earned a master’s degree at UC Berkeley after spending years studying the behavior of desert woodrats. She was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow from 1992-3.

To Attend the Lecture

Please fill out this RSVP form if you plan to attend in-person. The talk is free and open to all members of the MIT community. We hope to see you there!