Five Latin America travel fellows selected to attend ScienceWriters2019
Cecilia Fernández Castañón, David Salcedo, Tatiana Pardo Ibarra, Estrella Burgos, Diego Arguedas Ortiz, Carmina de la Luz
Five science writers from Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico have been selected to receive Regional Travel Fellowships to attend ScienceWriters2019, the annual conference of U.S. science writers, October 25-29 in State College, Pa. The fellowships were supported by the International Program Fund made possible by donations from U.S. science writers and additional donors and sponsors who supported the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists, organized by the National Association of Science Writers (NASW), CASW and the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) and held in San Francisco in 2017.
UPDATE: Tatiana Pardo Ibarra (@Tatipardo2), a Colombian social communicator and journalist, has joined the group of Regional Travel Fellows. She focuses primarily on environment, the relationship between armed conflict and natural resources, indigenous peoples, and gender. Her writing has been published in El Espectador and El Tiempo, two of Colombia’s most prominent print media publications. Tatiana is a member of the Colombian Association of Scientific Journalism (ACPC) and first-place winner of the 2018 Amway Award.
Selected from a highly competitive pool of applications for the 2019 travel fellowships are: Diego Arguedas Ortiz (@arguedasortiz) founded and serves as the editor of Ojo al Clima (Eye to Climate), the first climate change outlet in Central America, published by Seminario Universidad (The University Weekly) at the University of Costa Rica. He is also a lecturer and coordinator of the bachelor’s degree program in the journalism department at the University of Costa Rica. His writing has been published in BBC Future, MIT Technology Review, and Anthropocene, among others. He is a member of the Mexican Network of Science Journalists (RedMPC) and the Association of British Science Writers.
Estrella Burgos (@estrellaburgos) is a science writer and editor based in Mexico City. Since 1998, she has served as editor-in-chief of the nation’s largest monthly science magazine for adolescents and young adults, ¿Cómo ves?. She is also co-host of a weekly science radio show, La Araña Patona. Both the broadcast and magazine are projects of the Department of Science Communication at UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where Burgos has worked over 20 years as an editor, writer, and radio and television presenter and scriptwriter. She covers astronomy, environmental issues, health, biology and biomedicine. She is a member of the Mexican Network of Science Journalists (RedMPC).
Carmina de la Luz (@luzspica) is a freelance science journalist whose work is published regularly in El Universal, a widely read national newspaper in Mexico. She writes about a broad range of topics and has a special interest in covering stories about social aspects of science such as gender perspectives, policies and investments. She is a member of the Mexican Network of Science Journalists (RedMPC).
Cecilia Fernández Castañón (@cecifercas) is a public information officer and science writer for the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina. Based in the northeastern region of the country she covers environment, health, biology, social sciences, conservation and paleontology. She has taught workshops on science communication at the National University of the Northeast and is a member of NASW and the Argentinean Network of Science Journalism (RADPC).
David Salcedo (@ian_fr) is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics at UNAM and a reporter for Symbiosis MX, a TVUNAM broadcast. He graduated from Facultad de Estudios Superior Aragón, UNAM, with a degree in communication and journalism and has published print, digital and radio stories at Milenio, Habitat Ciencia, El Punto Crítico and other sites. He is a member of the Mexican Network of Science Journalists (RedMPC).
Judges for the competition included three 2018 Regional Travel Fellows: Eduardo Franco Berton (@Edufrancoberton), a Bolivia-based investigative journalist on environment and wildlife and founder of www.raibolivia.org; Helen Mendes Lima (@iamhelenmendes), international news editor of Gazeta do Povo and a freelance science journalist based in Curitiba, Brazil; and Sebastián Rodriguez (@sebastianrodvar), a journalist at Semanario Universidad in Costa Rica and a regular contributor to Thomson Reuters Foundation News. Additional judges were Cindy Hawes (@cindyhawes1), a freelance writer, editor and translator based in Mexico City; Robin Lloyd (@robinlloyd99), a freelance science journalist based in New York City and CASW’s vice president; and Sarah Zielinski (@SarahZielinski), managing editor of Science News for Students and an NASW board member.
