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Meredith Hegg '00 Works as Science Reporter During AAAS Mass Media Fellowship

Meredith Hegg '00 Works as Science Reporter During AAAS Mass Media Fellowship

by Michael Lott
10/2/2009

Meredith Hegg '00

Meredith Hegg '00 talks about her work as an AAAS fellow

Meredith Hegg '00 recently served as a science reporter for the Voice of America news organization  as an American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mass Media Fellow. Voice of America is a federal agency that produces news stories for international audience. Hegg spoke about her experiences at the wrap-up event for the AAAS fellows. Science communication, she said, is vital to being a good scientist. "The best scientists are able to describe their research clearly as well as explain why their information is important," she said. "These are the exact same skills that make a good science reporter."

The AAAS Mass Media Fellowship program is targeted at science, engineering, and mathematics students who want to improve their science communication skills by working as science reporters for 10 weeks during the summer. Voice of America is just one of many news organizations where AAAS places fellows; others include National Public Radio, the Chicago Tribune, and Scientific American.

Hegg filed radio reports and online news stories for Voice of America. Her favorite story was entitled, "New Plan Aims for Fairness in Carbon Emission Cuts." It examined an alternative proposal for curbing the carbon emissions of heavy polluters in populous countries like India and China. It would establish a cap on emissions by individual polluters rather than an countrywide per capita cap.

Hegg worked as a high school math teacher in Philadelphia before entering Temple University to pursue a graduate degree.