Since I graduated from college, I've been trying to apply my acquired skill sets in science and journalism to not only effect a positive change in my community, but to fundamentally improve the way people receive and digest information.
In 2005 I lived in East Setauket, New York where I became privy to a widespread dissatisfaction with the local media. In speaking with colleagues and neighbors, I realized that the area's primary source of news was a stiflingly conservative publication with little real journalism to speak of. I assembled a team of accomplished writers and business leaders and built an alternative news and features monthly from the ground up. Within two weeks of launch, we had over 150 voluntary subscriptions and a solid advertising base.
That same year, I was also on the Board of Directors for a local non-profit called Hera Group which organized educational workshops to get children excited about science.
And now a colleague and I are in the process of launching Hey Heisenberg!, a social network for students, teachers and professionals committed to bridging the gap between science and journalism in an effort to supplement and contextualize their academic experiences.
They say the biggest ships take the longest to turn around, but my commitment to effecting a positive change in science education has been a perpetual focus of my efforts since I recognized, not just the popular desire, but the necessity for improvements in how we deliver information.
Though I am urged to say Richmond Town, Staten Island where I grew up or even the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism where I was given some amazing opportunities to give back to society, I have to say the place for which I feel the most fondness, the most connection, is the third floor of the Physics Building at Stony Brook University.
If I am to trust to memory, it was in that deserted, dimly lit corner, at that dark brown wooden desk, in that bright orange, rickety chair that I recall as the most influential place and the most formative time in my academic and professional careers. Hunched over a thermodynamics textbook with a half-eaten bagel and a coffee in each hand, it was here that I first made the connection between the stuff I was learning and how it could be used to give back. Not thermal statistics per se, but I came to understand that even an individual's knowledge can and should be broadcasted to the betterment of many if it's done in a clever way. Undoubtedly, it was here during those taxing, anxious nights that I had my "Ah ha!" moment about science, journalism and community.
To put it succinctly as possible, I want to see the international achievement gap in science and math for American kids closed. In addition to just empowering kids with a broader spectrum of general knowledge and technical proficiencies, greater success in the international language of science and math engenders a better informed society and a more competitive global market.
Though it's an extraordinarily ambitious goal, I believe I can do my small part by supplying students, teachers and professionals with more efficient tools of communication and collaboration. If there's one thing I learned from physics, it's that things flow better along the path of least resistance, and I hope that Hey Heisenberg! can be that conduit.
I received my B.S. in physics from Stony Brook University in 2005 where I was also the editor of the largest student-run media outlet, a news and features bi-weekly called The Stony Brook Press. Upon graduation, I organized and founded The Suffolk Standard Publishing Corporation, which put out a local news, politics and events monthly with a print run of 25,000.
Upon my receipt of a full scholarship to the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism and in recognition of the changing media landscape, we closed up shop at the paper and I moved back to Brooklyn, New York to pursue the opportunity. There I focused on city government and urban reporting while learning the fundamentals of a wide range of media platforms and technological applications. In addition to classes, I worked as a Web site administrator and designer for the award winning New York City News Service. I also did regular freelance writing, editing, layout and design for amNewYork, Courier Life Publications and The Brooklyn Eagle for the last 18 months. And in December 2008, I received my M.A. in Journalism.
