Biological Sciences Colloquium: Caitlin Looby, PhD

Caitlin Looby, PhD, Journal Sentinel, will present a talk about her work entitled, ‘Why your science needs a story – and how I ended up telling them for a living’

The Abstract is as Follows:  Covered in mud in a misty cloud forest, I thought I knew exactly where my career was headed. I was a soil scientist finishing a PhD and picturing a life in academia. But the question that kept pulling at me wasn’t just how the world works, it was how we get people to care about it. That question led me out of research and into journalism, and eventually to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to cover the Great Lakes.

In this talk, I’ll share what it’s like to work as a science journalist, how I made the leap from research to a career outside of academia and how my scientific training still shapes every story I write. We’ll also dig into the tools that made that leap possible: how to find the story in your research, and how to shape it for the audience you want to reach. These skills matter whether you end up in academia, policy or science communication. (And if you want to hear more, I teach a science communication class in the spring, too).

The presentation will begin at 3:00 PM in Lapham Hall N101, preceded by an informal reception from 2:45 – 3:00PM.