Eight newspaper, magazine, book and television journalists from across the country who cover issues in science, medicine, technology and the environment have been selected as Knight Science Journalism Fellows at MIT for the 1994-95 year.
The new Fellows will be part of the 12th group in the program, which was inaugurated in 1983. They will be joined by journalists from other countries, whose names will be announced later.
During their nine months at MIT, the Fellows will pursue independent study in various fields of research and innovation. They also will discuss the process of science and its results with several dozen leading researchers during special seminars and field trips.
The 1994-95 Fellows are:
Alex Barnum, 33, a business reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle who specializes in biotechnology and health care delivery.
Marcia Bartusiak, 44, a freelancer from Sudbury, the author of books and magazine articles about physics and astronomy.
Larry Gonick, 47, a San Francisco free-lance journalist-cartoonist whose "Cartoon Guide" series includes books about genetics, computers, physics and statistics.
Larry Husten, 39, a Brooklyn free-lance health and medical writer who specializes in cardiology.
David Ropeik, 43, an environmental reporter for Boston's WCVB television station and a director of the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Colleen Sauber, 41, a free-lance writer based in St. Paul, MN, who specializes in agricultural science.
Karen Wright, 32, of New York City, a former Scientific American writer who now free-lances for Discover and other national magazines.
Sylvia Wright, 36, the science and medicine editor at the San Jose Mercury News.
The Fellowship's principal financial support comes from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of Miami.
More than 125 science journalists have attended the program since its founding, when it was initially known as the Vannevar Bush Fellowships. These alumni include journalists now at Time magazine, Business Week, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio and the journal Science.
The members of the 1994 Selection Committee were David Ansley, acting director of the program this year; Victor McElheny, Fellowship director; Charles Petit, a San Francisco Chronicle science writer; Kathy Sawyer, a Washington Post science writer; Patricia Thomas, editor of the Harvard Health Letter; and John Wilkes, director of the science writing program at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
A version of this article appeared in the May 4, 1994 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 38, Number 31).
