The UBC School of Journalism is introducing its first Science Journalist in Residence. Nicola Jones, acting essays editor for the journal, Nature, will join the school in the fall to teach in its new Science Journalism Initiative.
The school is also pleased to announce that its science journalism students have won the most national science writing scholarships in the country for 2008. UBC graduate journalism students won five out of 12 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Communication Awards, followed by the University of Toronto with three awards. The awards provide students with $21,000 a year per student for their graduate studies to pursue research in health communications. For more information, read UBC j-school students win 5 of 12 CIHR awards.
Joining the school to teach these students is Nicola Jones, an award-winning journalist and alumna of the school’s first graduating class in 2000. Jones has worked at some of the top science journalism publications worldwide, including New Scientist and Nature. She has held a number of positions at Nature in the UK over the past five years, including assistant news and feature editor, online news editor and now acting essays editor, a part-time position based in Vancouver, B.C.
“This is a great opportunity for the school to take a leadership role in science journalism education in Canada,” said Mary Lynn Young, an associate professor and director of the School of Journalism.
“Melding a top-ranked research university such as UBC and a Science Journalism Initiative provides students with the optimal environment to learn about the most recent science research and journalism best practices.”
Throughout her career, Jones has been interested in broader issues of science communication and science journalism. She oversaw the redesign and development of Nature’s online news website, which won best small website in a specialty subject from the Online News Association for in 2005.
She won the Association of British Science Writers/GlaxoSmithKline award for best science feature in a specialist journal in 2003, for her article on in the September 2002 issue of New Scientist on preserving ancient documents.
She has also covered a number of important science issues over her career, participating in the Wood’s Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Fellowship for Science Writers, which included a trip to the Arctic to chart the effects of climate change.
Jones won the Governor General’s Silver Medal for top student in the UBC Faculty of Science, and the Governor General’s Canada Scholarship in Environmental Sciences.
