Job Opportunity for Science Writer and News Miner at NASA GSFC

A NASA contractor is looking for a full-time science communicator to uncover and write stories about the Sun-Earth system (heliophysics) for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Responsibilities include:

+ mining science and technology stories from research journals, scientific meetings, abstracts, lectures, and old-fashioned beat reporting
+ writing releases, advisories, and tip sheets for media
+ composing features, photo essays, podcasts, Q&As, blogs, and other products for direct-to-public consumption via NASA’s web sites and other venues
+ collaborating with producers and scientific visualizers to create imagery, animations, video vignettes, and video news releases
+ assisting with development of news conferences, campaigns, and media days
+ collaborating with NASA public affairs officer to distribute media products
+ tracking media coverage of heliophysics, as well as web traffic
+ developing new methods of science news delivery, including social media.

Reporting and writing for a science institution requires initiative, persistence, an outgoing personality, and a thick skin. It also requires patience, self-confidence, and diplomacy, as you will be a translator and moderator between scientific and engineering specialists, government managers, and the non-scientist public.

Though we work for the scientists, the writer will be expected to maintain journalistic standards for storytelling, multiple-source reporting, and accuracy. News judgment is critical. You are writing for media colleagues /and/ for the public; they want sound information, not spin.

The ideal candidate will have a several years of experience reporting on space science or a degree in a related field. Preference will be given to applicants with an interest and some experience collaborating on video, interactive web media, and social media.

ADNET Systems, Inc., based in Rockville, MD, brings a history of expertise in software development, computer network design, IT security, mission operations support, and educational outreach. ADNET has now expanded into Space and Earth Science at NASA Goddard.

Review of applications will begin immediately. Send resume, references, two published clips, and one unedited clip to Larry Klein, lklein@sesda2.com (+1 301-352-4674).