New York Times’ Blakeslee to be Science Writer in Residence

Sandra Blakeslee, author and science correspondent for the New York Times, will be the fall 2003 Science Writer in Residence at UW–Madison.

A third-generation science writer, Blakeslee specializes in writing about neuroscience, but her work spans many areas of science, ranging from the earth sciences to cell biology and genetics.

Blakeslee has collaborated on several books on the effects of divorce on children with Judith Wallerstein (Second Chances, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce and What About the Kids), and one on marriage (The Good Marriage). She has also co-authored a book on the brain with V.S. Ramachandran (Phantoms in the Brain), and she is now at work on another book about the brain in collaboration with Jeff Hawkins, inventor of the Palm Pilot.

As a science writer in residence, Blakeslee will visit campus the week of Sept. 28. She will spend time working with students, faculty and staff, and she will deliver a free public lecture, “The Zeitgeist of Science Writing,” at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, in the Memorial Union (check TITU).

The Science Writer in Residence Program, now in its 17th year, was established with the support of the Brittingham Trust. It continues with support from the University of Wisconsin Foundation and has brought to campus many of the nation’s leading science writers, including three whose work subsequently earned them the Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s most prestigious award. The program is sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and University Communications.