Last winter, we called on HBCU students everywhere to help us fill what we see as one of the biggest gaps in science news coverage today: the paucity of stories on science being done at HBCUs. From Washington, DC to Prairie View, Texas, from New Orleans, Louisiana to Hampton, Virginia, smart, talented students answered our call in droves.
We’re pleased to announce that from that competitive pool of applicants we’ve now selected the 2016 class of HBSciU Science Writing fellows: Adrian Parker (Tennessee State University), Benjamin Siele (Southern University, New Orleans), and Alexa White (Howard University). The fellows were selected by a panel of judges that included a former New York Times writer, a Spelman College professor, and award-winning freelance science journalists.
Over the next three months, the fellows will bring you on-the-ground reporting on the latest science-related developments in the world of HBCUs. Parker, a Fisk University alumnus and doctoral candidate at TSU, specializes in physics, music, and computer science. Siele, a graduate student with a background in microbiology, will report on work being done at SUNO’s forensic science lab, among other topics. White, a biology major and chemistry minor at Howard, will cover topics in environmental policy. Her story on efforts to get HBCUs to divest from the fossil fuel industry will appear on HBSciU.com later this week.
So stay tuned and continue to check back in to HBSciU, the internet’s home for thoughtful coverage of science being done at HBCUs and by black scientists everywhere.
The HBSciU.com Science Writing Fellowship is funded in full by a grant from the National Association of Science Writers. Reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement of or recommendation by the National Association of Science Writers, and any views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the National Association of Science Writers.
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