ScienceWriters2022

This autumn, the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) plans to return to in-person meetings and will present ScienceWriters2022 in Memphis, Tennessee October 21-25 in collaboration with our local host, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

For our first in-person meeting since 2019 — and in the historic setting of Memphis — we invite all attendees to join NASW, CASW, and our hosts at St. Jude for a gathering of remembrance, reconnection, and reflection at the National Civil Rights Museum on Friday, October 21. Built into the Lorraine Motel, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 assassination, the museum honors the unfinished work of those who fight for equality in America.

Why this museum? As much as our return to conferencing is a celebration, so too must our professional community acknowledge our living history, recent and past. From the civil rights movement of the 20th century to the nationwide marches of recent years to deeply troublesome legislation introduced in Tennessee and 32 other states last year targeting transgender people — interwoven with the systemic injustices amplified by the ongoing pandemic — it is abundantly clear that injustice and violence remain pervasive in our society, whether along racial, gender, or economic lines.

As writers and journalists, we share a duty to report on this living history. As science writers in particular, we illuminate society's ills, hopes and the quest for solutions with data, inquiry, analysis, and the stories we tell. We can take inspiration from another of Memphis' celebrated past denizens, Ida B. Wells, whose work searingly demonstrated the power of the written word. In that spirit, we are partnering with MLK50: Justice Through Journalism — a nonprofit Memphis newsroom focused on poverty, power, and public policy — on special programming for the conference.

Registration opens online in August. During registration, attendees will have the option of donating to several organizations in the greater Memphis area that support inclusion and equity. For those who are not able to travel or not comfortable traveling to Tennessee for any reason, we invite you to join the virtual portion of ScienceWriters2022, starting October 12. This vibrant offering is being designed with the virtual community in mind.