Articles by: Rodrigo Pérez Ortega

Jessica Wapner’s Wall Disease Unravels How Border Walls Affect the Mind

Jessica Wapner’s Wall Disease Unravels How Border Walls Affect the Mind

In her short book Wall Disease: The Psychological Toll of Living Up Against a Border, published in October 2020, science journalist Jessica Wapner explores how living by a border changes people. In this interview, Wapner talks with Rodrigo Pérez Ortega about her motivation to disentangle the effects of walls on people’s brains, the process of writing a book during a pandemic, and the many shades of “wall disease” that affect the communities that live near walls.

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by · March 2, 2021 · Comments are Disabled
Cómo sacar el máximo provecho de las conferencias científicas

Cómo sacar el máximo provecho de las conferencias científicas

Quizá la clave más importante para el éxito de la cobertura de una conferencia consiste en prepararse con mucha anticipación al evento. No hay una sola manera óptima de hacerlo, pues cada conferencia científica es diferente. “Mi estrategia varía dependiendo de la conferencia y de la complejidad técnica de la conferencia”, afirma Kelly Servick, periodista de Science que cubre regularmente conferencias sobre biología, medicina y biotecnología.

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by · March 18, 2019 · 2 comments
Lizzie Wade Examines a Debate over the Origins of the Amazon’s Biodiversity

Lizzie Wade Examines a Debate over the Origins of the Amazon’s Biodiversity

In an award-winning 2015 Science story, “Cradle of Life,” Mexico City-based journalist Lizzie Wade tagged along with scientists trying to pinpoint the event that gave rise to the Amazon’s staggering biodiversity. The group trekked through the Peruvian Amazon on a grueling 10-hour hike, crossing three different ecosystems and many microclimates to collect samples that might offer clues to the region’s past. Here, Wade talks about her experience reporting and writing her award-winning story.

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by · September 26, 2017 · Comments are Disabled
Why Is It So Hard for Foreign Journalists to Break into U.S. and European Outlets?

Why Is It So Hard for Foreign Journalists to Break into U.S. and European Outlets?

Some of the biggest science stories, from climate change to gene editing to infectious disease, are global stories. Journalists based outside the United States and Europe, where the majority of major science-journalism publications are based, are well-positioned to find and report these kinds of stories. So why don’t foreign bylines more often appear in U.S. and European publications that have the largest international audiences? As an early-career Mexican science journalist, I have been asking myself that question for quite a while now.

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by · August 29, 2017 · 4 comments
Sruthi Pinnamaneni and Peter Andrey Smith

Peter Andrey Smith and Sruthi Pinnamaneni Interview a Doctor Trying to Untangle ALS “Reversals”

Almost all patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, die from respiratory failure, usually within two to four years of initial diagnosis. But sometimes, patients get better. Duke University neurologist Richard Bedlack investigates such ALS “reversals,” in hopes of discovering something such people share in common that could offer answers about the disease. In a January 2017 episode of the podcast Reply All, Peter Andrey Smith and Sruthi Pinnamaneni talked with Bedlack; here, they tell the story behind the story.

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by · July 11, 2017 · 6 comments
Getting the Most out of Scientific Conferences

Getting the Most out of Scientific Conferences

“Reporting from a meeting is overwhelming, even for experienced reporters,” says journalist Nick Mulcahy. But with experience and practice, he has developed several strategies—from how he does prep research to how he chooses sessions to attend and takes advantage of gadgets and social media—that help ensure he’ll come away with captivating stories without losing too much sleep. “The more you do it,” says Mulcahy, “the better you get at it and the less overwhelming it gets.”

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by · June 13, 2017 · 2 comments
Finding and Landing the Right Internship in Science Writing

Finding and Landing the Right Internship in Science Writing

Many successful science writers begin learning the craft through internships. Whether your goal is a staff job or a career as a freelance writer, getting to know the nitty-gritty of how publications and institutions work will definitely help you. Here, TON/BWF fellow Rodrigo Pérez Ortega explores what kinds of internships exist, how to find them, which internship is right for you—and how to convince the editor that you are the intern for them.

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by · May 23, 2017 · 4 comments

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