You enrolled in a STEM doctoral program because you love science. But if you’re like a large proportion of your fellow PhD students, you may be rethinking whether a bench scientist career is for you. Science writing, and science communication more generally, can offer a great way to keep the wonder of science at the forefront of your work, while affording a breadth of engagement with scientific discovery unavailable in a hyperspecialized research career. Numerous and varied opportunities exist in a wide range of employment sectors, from academia, industry and government to healthcare, journalism and freelancing. A panel of PhD-holding science communicators will discuss these paths, their daily work lives, and ways current PhD students can explore and prepare for careers in the field.

Careers Beyond Academia invites you to REGISTER HERE

The panelists:

Bethany Brookshire (PhD, Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest U., 2010), Freelance science writer and podcaster, author of Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains (Ecco, 2022).

Jill Sakai (PhD, Neuroscience, U. of Wisconsin–Madison, 2006), Freelance science writer and Assistant Managing Editor, Science News Explores

Ashley Smart (PhD, Chemical Engineering, Northwestern U., 2007), Associate Director, Knight Science Journalism Program, MIT, and Senior Editor, Undark Magazine

Sponsored by Syracuse University