Public Writing Fellows 2023
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Recently, nine UMass graduate students were selected to participate in the Graduate School’s Public Writing Fellows Program. Forty-Seven students applied to be part of the program, which aimed to help graduate students improve skills in communicating about complex research with non-expert audiences. The nine accepted Fellows took part in communication training throughout the summer, learning different techniques for producing clear, engaging content for a variety of audiences.
As a capstone to the program, Public Writing Fellows interviewed another graduate student and wrote a profile of that student’s research. The resulting research profiles will be published on the Graduate School’s website.
Public Writing Fellows and their profiled student researcher include:
- Alexa Hershberger, PhD student in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, writing about Helene Grogan (Sociology)
- Briana Kubik, PhD candidate in Microbiology, writing about Khadijat Adeleye (Elaine Marieb College of Nursing)
- Chinedum Eluwa, PhD student in Civil & Environmental Engineering, writing about Adam Netzer Zimmer (Anthropology)
- Harita Sistu, PhD candidate in Microbiology, writing about Tailynn McCarty (Biomedical Engineering)
- Jacob Barnett, PhD candidate in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, writing about Trisha Dehrone (Psychology)
- Marina Perez del Valle, PhD student in Philosophy, writing about Colleen Chase (Kinesiology)
- Raymond Caraher, PhD candidate in Economics, writing about Nicole Le Roux (Educational Policy and Research Administration)
- Thakshala Tissera, PhD candidate in English, writing about Christian Puma Ninacuri (Hispanic Literature and Linguistics)
- Vivian Nwadiaru, PhD candidate in Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, writing about Nick Perello (Manning College of Information & Computer Science)
Graduate students who participated in the Public Writing Fellows program praised the ways in which the program provided a platform for learning from a diverse group of students and addressing new audiences. “I appreciated the opportunity to gain experience writing for a non-academic audience and received valuable feedback throughout the writing process,” said Jacob Barnett. “After learning about UMass press releases from one of the guest speakers, I felt inspired to reach out and ended up working with them to publish a press release about my own research!”
The program also allowed students to immerse themselves in other’s work and understand communication from a new perspective. “It not only taught me how to effectively communicate about someone else's research, but also how to better communicate my own,” according to Briana Kubik. “It was refreshing to take a step back from my own research and delve into the exciting research that is being done in other departments at UMass.”
In addition to the Public Writing Fellows Program, the Graduate School sponsors the Three Minute Thesis competition each year to help graduate students improve their communication skills.