Freelance Science Journalist
Here are my clips and my Content.ly Portfolio.
I’m also the current Treasurer and a Board member of the National Association of Science Writers, and was previously the Secretary of the organization.
University of California, Santa Cruz: Graduate Certificate in Science Communication, June 2011
Stanford University: Ph.D., Microbiology & Immunology, May 2009
Cornell University: B.S., Biological Sciences (Genetics & Development), Summa Cum Laude, December 2002. Academic Excellence Award for Highest GPA in the Biological Sciences major
Freelance Science Writer – August 2013-present (and June 2009-August 2011): Have written news and feature stories for publications such as TIME Health, The New York Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic News, Nature, Science, The Scientist and Wired.
Program Manager for The Open Notebook‘s Sharon Dunwoody Science Journalism Mentoring Program – September 2022 – present
Lecturer, Johns Hopkins MA in Science Writing program – January 2023 – present
Science Writer for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC – August 2011-August 2013
Editorial Intern at Science News magazine, Washington, DC – June 2011-July 2011
Science Reporting Intern at San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, CA – March 2011-June 2011
Editorial Intern at Stanford News Service, Stanford, CA – January 2011-March 2011
Editorial Intern at The Salinas Californian, Salinas, CA – September 2010-December 2010
Editorial Intern at Science Illustrated and Popular Science, Bonnier Corporation, New York, NY – August 2009-May 2010
Wrote ‘Ask a geneticist’ column and was a science outreach volunteer, Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, CA – June 2008-Fall 2009
Staff writer for Stanford Scientific Magazine – Spring 2007
Contributor, Cornell Daily Sun, independent student newspaper – Fall 2002
Computer: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Endnote, MS Office, Mac OS, Windows. Familiar with Drupal Content Management System
Multimedia: Have experience in creating videos, slideshows and podcasts to tell stories. Have used Final Cut Pro, Adobe Audition, Audacity, and Soundslides for this purpose
Languages: Fluent in Hindi. Proficient in French, Tamil and Malayalam.
Certified Power Shift Project Workplace Integrity trainer – Completed The Freedom Forum Institute’s Power Shift Project “Workplace Integrity: Train the Trainers” workshop
Science Outreach at Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, CA and Stanford Dept. of Genetics -2008-09 – Ran floor programs for the “Genetics: Technology with a Twist” exhibition at the museum, and at a San Jose, CA high school as part of an outreach program to educate and excite the public about science
Stanford University – Winter 2005/2007 – Teaching Assistant for the ‘Humans and Viruses’ and ‘Microbial Pathogenesis’ courses
Cornell University – Fall 2001/2002 – Teaching Assistant for Genetics and Introductory Biology courses
Cornell University – Fall 2002-03 – Biology Freshman Student Advisor
Dewitt Middle School, Ithaca, NY – Fall 2000 – Tutored sixth, seventh and eighth grade students in reading, writing, mathematics, and science for the Dewitt STAR tutoring program.
Graduate student with Dr. John Boothroyd, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University – July 2004-May 2009
Studied the mechanisms by which the parasite Toxoplasma gondii secretes proteins into its host cell in order to co-opt the host cell and cause disease.
Howard Hughes Research Scholar with Dr. Alan Collmer, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University – 2001-2003
Analyzed the expression and translocation of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 proteins into host plants, to better understand their role in causing disease.