CASW announces Meaghan Parker as next executive director
The Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW) is pleased to name Meaghan E. Parker as the organization’s next executive director, effective October 1. Parker will succeed Rosalind Reid, who is retiring from the position after more than a decade of exemplary service.
Parker’s career has taken her from the private sector to international environmental policy to nonprofit journalism. Currently a public policy fellow at the Wilson Center, Parker was the executive director of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) from 2018 to 2023. Under her leadership, SEJ raised more than $5 million, doubled its Fund for Environmental Journalism, and more than doubled membership diversity. Parker also represented SEJ in a partnership with CASW and the Association of Health Care Journalists to develop, fund, and operate the National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowships (SHERF), now training its third annual cohort.
“Science, health, and environmental journalism are at a critical juncture. Independent, credible, and scientifically accurate coverage of the complicated challenges we face has never been more important,” Parker said. “Yet financial and other support for journalism and journalists are not meeting the demand. I am thrilled to work with CASW to increase and improve science journalism, which is essential to the health of our democracy and to the well-being of our people and our planet.”
“CASW is very excited to work with Meaghan Parker, an accomplished professional and respected leader with a proven track record as a nonprofit leader and champion of journalism that covers crucial, complex topics,” said CASW President Robin Lloyd. “Parker’s remarkable skill set includes media industry experience, expertise in executive leadership and relationship building, and serving as a stalwart advocate for trust in the media and freedom of information. She is well-positioned to lead CASW into its next phase.”
Parker serves on the advisory committees or boards of the Uproot Project, Planet Forward, and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. Prior to joining SEJ’s staff, she served six years on SEJ’s board of directors. She began her career at PPL Global, a Fortune 500 energy company, before working for 15 years at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program, where she will become a Global Fellow in the fall. She majored in gender studies at the University of Chicago.
In announcing the appointment of Parker, CASW also wishes to express its deep gratitude for Rosalind Reid’s extraordinary legacy of contributions to CASW, including serving on CASW’s board from 2007 to 2011. During Reid’s tenure as executive director, CASW raised $5.5 million in support of programming, expanded its fellowships and training offerings, conceived and implemented a broad initiative to expand CASW’s efforts to improve the quality of science journalism, and co-led with partners the 2017 World Conference of Science Journalists, in San Francisco.
After October 1, Reid will stay on with CASW to help orchestrate the ScienceWriters2024 meeting in Raleigh, N.C.
The Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, founded in 1959, is committed to improving the quantity and quality of science news reaching the public. Led by a board of directors composed of senior journalists and others committed to excellence in the communication of science, CASW develops and finds funding for programs to help reporters and writers produce accurate and informative stories about developments in science, technology, medicine, and the environment.
