Sharon Dunwoody Science Journalism Mentoring Program

Applications for the Sharon Dunwoody Science Journalism Mentoring Program are currently closed. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified when applications open again.

The Sharon Dunwoody Science Journalism Mentoring Program is a free cohort-based mentoring program aimed at increasing the diversity of voices covering science and supporting journalists who are from underrepresented communities or who have experienced higher than average barriers to entry to the field. Through this program we aim to provide the skills and community support to help journalists do their best work in covering science. This program offers participants the opportunity to explore their career interests, challenges, and passions and to sharpen their skills as part of a talented, supportive, diverse mentoring community. The program is managed by Sandeep Ravindran, an experienced science journalist based in Bethesda, Maryland.

Learn more about the current cohort and previous cohorts of the Sharon Dunwoody Science Journalism Mentoring Program.

"This mentorship program has been very valuable to me, and I appreciate our ongoing mentorship. My mentor has been such positive supporter for my professional goals, while giving me realistic solutions towards achieving them."

Jenae BarnesHealth and environment reporter, Capital B News

"Thanks to the program, I was able to publish several stories in media outlets in the United States. I acquired knowledge about the market and what was necessary to get into that world. Without the program and without my mentor I would not have made it."

María de los Ángeles OrfilaFreelance journalist, Uruguay

"The encouragement and support that my mentor offered was probably the most important thing to happen over the course of the mentoring program. I feel like my mentor believed in my potential as a journalist even when I doubted it myself, and was always encouraging me to pitch bigger, higher-profile outlets which was something I never would have considered without that support. The program and my mentor's support even helped me land a position as Grist Magazine's 2024 Climate Solutions Fellow."

Syris ValentineIndependent journalist

"The Open Notebook takes the intimidation out of doing the evidence-based work that our communities rely on us to do. Through The Open Notebook, I’ve gotten the support that I’ve been wanting my whole career. I’m a steadier, more self-assured journalist because of it. I’ve never been a part of a program that’s been so ego-free and so generous."

Helina SelemonScience reporter, New York Amsterdam News

"Because of this mentoring program, I am better equipped now to develop good pitches and find the right sources for the stories. I am also happy that I got to write for two new outlets, which came as a result of discussions with my mentor on how to best structure the pitches."

AnanyaScience journalist

About Sharon Dunwoody

Sharon L. Dunwoody (1947-2022) was one of the U.S.’s preeminent scholars of science and environmental journalism, the first woman to serve as director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and a mentor to legions of students and science writers across the world. Sharon embodied inclusion, never hesitating to welcome and assist colleagues, students, scientists, and virtually everyone with whom she crossed paths. She was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and served as a member and president of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research and the Association for Education in Journalism in Mass Communication. She was a prolific scholar of science communication for public audiences and earned scores of accolades and awards. She also co-founded UW–Madison’s long-running Science Journalist in Residence Program, which along with a host of other journalist-in-residence programs at the school where she spent the majority of her career, now bears her name. Sharon was a longtime friend to The Open Notebook and is deeply missed.