SWINY’s modest annual dues of $25 are repaid many times over. Priority job listings continue to be an outstanding membership advantage. Our popular networking opportunities include informal socials throughout the year. Members enjoy a significantly reduced fee for our festive annual party, held in February to brighten the winter doldrums. And most especially, we dedicate ourselves to creating timely, provocative, expert-powered events that keep us on our toes, stretch our minds, and provide novel story ideas. These events—many of which draw SRO crowds—are free to members.

In 2010, our events included:

• The Future of Play: Games are Changing—And Changing Us. Increasingly, educators (backed by the National Science Foundation) see games and simulations as important learning tools. Others work with them as a way to modify social attitudes. Co-hosted with the Games For Change meet-up group, a panel of hands-on experts illuminated significant questions about learning/social change games.
• Epigenetics and Cancer: The Next Evolution in Cancer Therapeutics. Epigenetics is the study of inherited and acquired modifications in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the DNA itself. A roundtable discussion of this burgeoning new frontier in cancer therapeutics with leading researchers in the field was co-hosted with the biotech company Syndex.
• Exclusive Tour of NYC’s Largest “Green” Roof. The 2.5 acre roof of the U.S. Postal Service’s 9th Avenue sorting facility in Chelsea is our city’s newest and largest green roof project and research site. SWINY arranged an up-close and personal guided tour with the senior scientist involved in this effort, including an exclusive preview of the research about to begin on this extraordinary green roof.
• A Discussion of the New DSM-5. A panel of experts discussed the upcoming changes and revisions for DSM-5 and their implications for clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and policy makers.
• A Window Into Science/A Window Into Book Authoring: A Conversation with Julie Des Jardins, Author of The Madame Curie Complex. Des Jardins, Professor of History at Baruch College, has profiled a range of ground-breaking women scientists post-1900 and how they have pursued their passions, often in the face of gender-related barriers. Her profiles open a window into diverse 20th century scientific cultures. For SWINY, Des Jardins shared highlights of these stories—as well as the complexities of crafting a book-length gallery of unique women scientists. This event was co-hosted with AWIS (Association of Women in Science).
• Social Media in the Next Decade. Social media experts pinpointed what’s happening now, how that will change, and how writers can take advantage of it.
• Talkin’ Trash: New Trends in Trash and Recycling. Every day, nearly 12,000 tons of residential waste and recyclables are collected in New York City. What happens to the city’s garbage once it disappears from the curb? An expert panel described the potential, the successes, and the challenges in the unexpectedly fascinating world of local garbage.

The SWINY Board has been hard at work planning this coming year, and we hope to provide even better ways to bring writers, editors, and scientists together. Your membership dues make this possible.

Dues are only $25 a year (rising costs finally caused us to increase our long-standing $20 fee). You can pay via PayPal or by check using the form below.

SWINY can continue to exist only with member support. So help us continue providing stimulating events and workshops for the New York science-writing community.

Thank you!

The SWINY Board

Dues are only $20 for the year. You can renew now using PayPal.

You also can mail a check, payable to Science Writers in New York, to:

Science Writers in New York
51 MacDougal Street, Suite 304
New York, NY 10012

But please don’t delay. If we don’t hear from you by Monday, May 31, we will have to remove you from the SWINY membership roll and from the SWINY-Members Google group. You’ll miss out on preferred registration for space-limited events, discounts on admission and advance notice of job opportunities.

In making your decision, you might want to consider these tips on how to get the most out of our organization.

Come to our events. We’re proud of our diverse program of science-related events. SWINY panels have ranged from career development (branding, social media 2.0, business planning for freelancers) to such topics as autism, imaging, the secret life of New York’s trash, and the science of sex. We’ve taken field trips to world-class sites including Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Watch for our e-mails for new event announcements. Remember — SWINY members get to register first for space-limited events and always receive discounts.

Network and socialize. SWINY holds regular quarterly social events as well as a rollicking annual party. They’re all great opportunities to network, mingle, and enjoy the company of smart, companionable colleagues.

Get active. To really make the most of SWINY, get involved. If you’d like to suggest or plan programs, propose new activities, or simply collaborate with a stimulating group of thinkers and doers, come to our monthly Board meetings. Newcomers and fresh ideas are warmly welcomed to our all-volunteer board.

If you decide to continue your membership, don’t forget that that SWINY is your organization — so please take advantage of all we offer, and feel free to ask for more. We’re here to serve science writers’ professional needs, and always eager to hear how we can better do that.

We look forward to seeing you at future events!

Sincerely,

Joe Bonner
David Levine
Co-chairs, Science Writers in New York

SWINY’s job listings and networking opportunities have always been a value. In 2009, however, we outdid ourselves. We had a breakthrough year in hosting outstanding events (many of which drew SRO crowds of science and health writers).

Among them:

• Ethics in Hard Times. Top journalists discussed how economics are changing the behavior of top health and science magazines.
• Social Media for Science Writers. Top practitioners explained the power and limitations of social media.
• Lust, Romance, & Attachment. What brain scanning says about love and lust.
• Goodbye Benchtop, Hello Laptop. How scientists can translate their knowledge into a writing career.
• Me.com. A very practical session on using social media to brand yourself as a writer.
• The 2009 Swine Influenza. What happened, what may happen, and the role of the media.
• Land, Sea, & Sky. A mind-expanding tour of Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
• Research and Science Parks. How governments, universities, and business work together to revitalize regional economies.
• Healthy Bones. Facts, myths and the science behind bone health.

We also hosted several networking socials, threw a festive annual party, and upgraded our website so it is easier to use.

This year, we hope to find even better ways to bring writers, editors, and scientists together. Your membership dues make this possible.

Dues are only $20 a year, and you can pay via PayPal or by check. Complete information is on the SWINY Web site.

SWINY can only exist with your continued support. This year, please help us continue providing great events and workshops for the New York science writing community.

Joe Bonner
David Levine
Co-chairs, Science Writers in New York

P.S. Remember, many SWINY events have cover charges to defray the cost of renting space. If you attended even two of those events in 2009 — or our annual February party – your membership paid for itself.
P.P.S. Your dues may be tax-deductible as a professional expense.

The board of Science Writers in New York has sent the following letter to Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn, in response to the news that the City restored funding to the New York Public Library.

Mayor R. Michael Bloomberg
Christine C. Quinn, Speaker
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn:

New York City is widely and rightly regarded as an international thought-leader and home to some of the world’s most advanced research and scholarship. One of the foundations on which this much-deserved reputation rests is the New York Public Library (NYPL). Our neighborhood libraries also serve as community hubs that provide books to residents at no cost, as well as such essential services as job search resources for adults and educational programs for our young people.

New York’s is the only library system that features both world-acclaimed research centers and the world’s largest network of branch libraries, with a long-standing tradition of serving the local community, as well as the international world of learning.

Science Writers in New York is the regional affiliate of the National Association of Science Writers, a professional organization composed of journalists, writers and public relations profesionals who cover advances in science, medicine, and technology in order to “foster the dissemination of accurate information regarding science through all media normally devoted to informing the public,” and as a result, we have experienced firsthand the inestimable value of the resources NYPL offers.

We applaud the decision to restore City funding to the New York Public Library system, and we urge you to continue support, in light of future budget pressures, to keep our libraries open and accessible.

Sincerely,

Joe Bonner, Co-chair
David Levine, Co-chair

cc: Paul LeClerc, President and CEO, New York Public Library

Note: SWINY Board member Ann Marie Cunningham attended last Monday’s media briefing on the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) and NSLS-II, just starting construction at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Here is her report.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new National Synchrotron Light Source (known officially as NSLS-II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) was a major event!

Why a new NSLS?  Brookhaven is worried about losing talent to Argonne National Laboratory, as well as to the UK and other countries with light sources.   And as the presence of so many legislators signified, the NSLS-II will mean jobs for Long Island.

Both New York’s Senators, the President of nearby SUNY-Stony Brook, and a State Assemblyman from the area spoke, as well as Patricia Dehmer, Deputy Director for Science Programs, U.S. Department of Energy, who was instrumental in getting the NSLS-II construction going. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer declared, “It’s a great day for Lawng Island! It’s a great day for science!”

Afterward, we science writers heard three scientific presentations.

The first, was an overview of what the current Synchrotron makes possible, and what the new one will do. (The Synchrotron contributes to a great deal of basic biology research and drug development, as well as energy related work.)

NSLS-II will be the brightest light source on earth — 10,000 times brighter than the sun. It also will have a much smaller beam, making much more nano research possible. Both Synchrotrons will be open 24 hours a day, six days a week. At present, NSLS serves 1800 scientists a year; NSLS-II will serve 3500 a year and conduct 18 experiments simultaneously. Right now, NSLS’s energy bill is $300,000 a year!

Some of you may remember a BNL presentation six years ago, at the old New York Academy of Sciences building. Part of that event covered Brookhaven’s work on developing more efficient carburetors (catalytic convertors) for car engines. We heard from an industrial user of the NSLS, a chemist, on how NSLS-II will make it easier to study “how natural structures are put together and how they do what they do — form and how function follows form.”

The last presenter was Lisa Miller, a neuroscientist from Brookhaven’s partner, SUNY-Stony Brook.  She has studied plaque in the brains of human Alzheimer’s patients. Her preliminary findings (discovered thanks to NSLS) are that patients’ plaques carry a great deal of metals (zinc, calcium, and others). She hypothesizes that the metals may be the cause of Alzheimer’s, not the plaque per se. Stay tuned!

We then toured the floor of the Synchrotron, and visited four scientists at work, two from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, who were conducting experiments and building a new kind of electron microscope. We heard what they were doing, and saw the hutches where the experiments are stowed in the Synchrotron.  Most of the experiments’ hutches are enveloped in tin foil, to keep heat in and dampness out.

Afterwards, we flew over for a whirlwind tour of Brookhaven’s Nanofabrication Facility (CNF). If you are from industry or another university and want to conduct a nano experiment, you can book time and tools at the CNF. Unlike Cornell’s, Brookhaven’s CNF 1) is free, and 2) conducts its own research. There are five groups working on different kinds of materials, to control their composition and consequently, their performance. Since our guide, Chuck Black, was in charge of the electronic-materials section, we saw his electron scanning microscopes, including one called Helios, which is known as “Brookhaven’s Nano Swiss Army Knife.” Apparently it’s almost always in use. We also saw a lab where Chuck’s group tests the performance of solar panels with a “fake sun.”   I would have liked to have seen BNL’s facility that mimics conditions at the earth’s core, but we ran out of time.

Big story: BP (British Petroleum) is building a 37-megawatt solar farm on 100 acres next door to Brookhaven. BP will sell the energy to Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), which will presumably decrease Brookhaven’s energy bill.

UPDATE: BNL’s Karen McNulty sent this earlier today:

Alzheimer’s Paper Now Online

For those of you who heard Dr. Lisa Miller describe her new work on the role of metal ions in Alzheimer’s disease at last Monday’s NSLS-II groundbreaking/media briefing, or who received Dr. Miller’s slides after the talk, that paper is now published online in the journal NeuroImage and is no longer embargoed. You are free to write about what you heard!

Thanks again for your interest in our research at Brookhaven National Laboratory!

What’s new and different at SWINY? Maybe you!

We join SWINY because of accessible activities that make it easy and enjoyable to expand our science awareness, improve our professional and business savvy, and network. And the thread through it all is meeting others like ourselves—fellow science writers—rare breed that we are!

Make your rewards even better—join the SWINY Board!

A unique benefit from joining an organization comes from volunteering. Although our educational and networking opportunities provide the stimulating experiences you joined SWINY for, working side by side with a varied group of other science writers is the single best way to plug into the New York science writing scene.

You won’t just meet other writers who share your experiences and concerns. Gathering regularly and working together, you’ll get to know them. Learn from them. Keep up with the latest trends in science and publishing. Propose and help plan the events that most excite you.

And it works both ways. We on the Board always welcome new members, because you bring the infusion of new ideas, new energy, and new perspectives that keeps SWINY at its best.

SWINY’s Board is special. It’s an open board—to be a member, just come to board meetings. Work on the projects that fit your interests and your schedule. Take the lead or provide support.

Whether you’re bursting with new ideas or prefer to get your bearings first isn’t important. Come, see what it’s all about, and decide if you’d like to be part of it.

We meet on the second Monday of each month, usually from 6:00–8 pm, at a convenient midtown location. Sometimes we combine it with dinner and schmoozing.

For the date and place of our next meeting or simply for more information, contact Joe Bonner (212-327-8998 or bonnerj@nasw.org) or David L. Levine (212-788-5438 or lob101@aol.com).

We look forward to seeing you!