About me
I've had two careers so far: astrophysicist and magazine editor.
In my first career, which lasted eight years, I strove to understand how the plasma that swirls around neutron stars, black holes and other cosmic objects emits x rays. In my second career, which continues, I write and edit articles about physics and its scientific relatives.
Communicating physics is challenging, even if your readers, like mine, are mostly physicists themselves. When I approach a story, I try to identify the basic principles of the research and the motivations of the researcher. Telling the story entails building a sequence of ideas that holds readers' attention while engaging and informing them.
As for editing, I've solicited and edited numerous obituaries, feature articles and opinion pieces. I also ran a news department, Physics Today's Search and Discovery, for seven years.
My experience might seem narrow. I've worked for just one publication. However, physics is a broad subject. I've covered proteins in fish eyes, quantum computing, colliding protoplanets and more.
I've also written different kinds of piece. Besides news stories about research, my work includes surveys of physics in Hong Kong, China and Singapore, whimsical columns about computing and, in my blog, commentaries about almost anything that's more or less connected to physics.
Being an online editor entails more than just writing stories, editing articles and running departments. As the world of electronic publishing evolves, I devise new editorial products that stay true to my publication's mission while taking advantage of the new ways people read, watch and listen.
I am a citizen of the UK and the US.
Projects
- Feature articlesI occasionally write feature articles for the print version of Physics Today. My most recent article, which was published in December 2013, is based on interviews I did with researchers whose work I had covered in 2003. The interviews revealed the surprising turns that basic research can take after a span of 10 years.
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Skills
- Blogs
- Online
- Social
- Edit
- Commentary
Education
Astronomy
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Physics
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