Public Writing Fellows
Are you interested in improving your writing for non-expert audiences? Or maybe you want to pursue a career in public relations, communication, or outreach? Be a Graduate School Public Writing Fellow!
In this program, graduate students work over the summer with a peer mentor group under the direction of the Office of Professional Development to write, revise, and polish a research communication news story. Participants also learn strategies to effectively communicate about their own research with non-experts. Students who successfully complete the program will have a published writing sample for their portfolio and will receive a $250 honorarium.
Applications are now being accepted from current graduate students for the 2025 Public Writing Fellows program! Apply here by April 22, 2025.
2024 Public Writing Fellows and their profiled student researcher include:
- Shannon Callaham, PhD student in Environmental Conservation, writing about Trisha Brady (Chemistry)
- Ece Derya Senbas, PhD student in Philosophy, writing about Briana Kubik (Microbiology)
- Isabella Hurley, master's student in Statistics, writing about Angelina Caggiano (Civil Engineering)
- Sarah Mirza, PhD student in Animal Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences, writing about Cory Ellen Gatrall (Nursing)
- Lance Piantaggini, PhD student in Education, writing about Karl Lyn (W.E.B. DuBois Department of African American Studies)
- Eric Ross, PhD student in History, writing about Angelica Hill (Linguistics)
- Janelle Welton, PhD student in Molecular and Cellular Biology, writing about Sofiya Shreyer (Anthropology)
Public Writing Fellows 2024
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the third cohort of Public Writing Fellows.
Angelica Hill’s passion for languages fuels her research on cognitive connections between modal language and causality.
Trisha Brady challenges normative ideas about protein structure and function.
UMass Amherst graduate student Sofiya Shreyer is pioneering research into menopause - the benefits it has, and the variety of symptoms people experience.
Briana Kubik’s research on hydrothermal vents can shed light on questions regarding early life on Earth and life on other planets
PhD student Karl Lyn studies how Black young adults reimagine society and their position within it.
UMass Amherst PhD student Angelina Caggiano is investigating roadway safety.
UMass PhD Graduate Dr. Cory Ellen Gatrall demystified the origins of cultural competence and its implications on patients.