Scientist Interview and Story
For the midterm assignment, choose a Rutgers (or local) scientist whose
work you are interested in exploring and interview him or her. You may
be already familiar with this person from your class work, or you may
be interested in learning more about what he or she is doing. For a
listing of some Cook College scientists that includes their recent publications,
browse through the Biotech Web site at
http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~biotech/faculty/index.html
- Once you have chosen a scientist to interview, find his or her most
recent major publication and read it, jotting down questions that
you think might lead to an interesting response. Try to isolate the
main issues motivating the research and identify possible real-world
applications of the study. Develop a set of questions that will help
you come up with a transcript of about 4 pages of notes and set up
an interview time as soon as possible. Ideally, you should try to
contact the scientist within the first week or so of class, so that
you can be sure to have the interview scheduled in time for you to
complete this assignment.
- Be friendly and upfront about the purposes of this interview, and
suggest that the interview may be published as a result of the class
assignment in a Web-based journal or in The Daily Targum.
If the scientist would rather you not publish the interview for some
reason, then assure him or her of confidentiality. You may also follow
the lead of many prominent science writers in offering to let the
scientist read your story before it is published. You may of course
refer the person to your instructor's e-mail address if he or she
has any questions about the interview process.
- During the interview, take good notes or perhaps tape-record the
session (with permission, of course). Be as professional as possible
and notice what topics excite and engage the scientist the most. Don't
be afraid to ask for clarification if you don't understand the answer
to something you have asked. As far as possible, treat this as if
it were a real interview for publication--it just might be.
- After the session, take half an hour or so and immediately record
any impressions or ideas that you should remember. If you're not sure
something is important, jot it down anyway. What struck you the most
about your conversation?
- Use your interview notes to write a six page story about it, suitable
for publication in a journal, or academic science magazine. Proofread
carefully!
- Hand your story in, along with the transcript and any notes you
have, as your midterm assignment.
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