I know that Spacetime Archives is evoking real passion for science in students.

INTRODUCTION AND MARA’S BACKGROUND

Rishika: Hi everyone! My name is Rishika Porandla. I am the Director of Spacetime Archives and I am here with Mara Johnson-Groh. She is a NASA Scientific Author and a journalist, and we are going to be having an interview today.

Rishika: A quick background about her: she has a Bachelor's in Physics and a Master's in Astronomy. She is an award-winning scientific author and photographer, and she depicts everything on Earth and even things beyond the Sun—as she puts it on her website. She freelances for magazines and online sites, and she's also a scientific writer for NASA. Her work has earned numerous accolades. I'll let Mara get into her personal presentation.

Mara: So, I'll just give a brief background here. As you said, I have a background in science. I started out studying physics, and went on to study astronomy in graduate school because I've always loved astronomy and those big-picture questions. But then, when I was working on my Masters, I really loved the process of being an astronomer. At the time I was finding new exoplanets and galaxies, and I really loved that, but I didn't enjoy all of the day-to-day work behind that. So, I started thinking more about other avenues.

Mara: While I was doing that, I started writing for this website called Astrobites. This is a website run entirely by graduate students where they take new papers in astronomy and write summaries about them for an undergraduate audience. I really liked that, so I thought: why not become a science writer? When I finished my Masters, I got a job at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. It's a huge campus with tons of scientists and engineers, but specifically I work with the Heliophysics Division.

Mara: Heliophysics is essentially the study of the Sun and everything the Sun's light touches. So, that's from flares on the Sun to auroras on Earth to the very extent of the Sun's influence past the planets. So, the majority of my work is writing about new discoveries. Typically what that looks like is one of our scientists will make a new discovery, which they'll publish in a scientific journal. I'll take that and write it in a way that hopefully anybody can understand. We're really trying to write for a high school level audience.

Mara: We write articles, and of course we're also putting that on social media and writing posts as well. In addition to that work, I work with an amazing team who makes all kinds of scientific visualizations, such as this one, which shows how a particle moves through a particular type of magnetic field in space. I also work with graphic designers who make these incredible posters and things that show stuff in ways that's hard to describe in words alone.

Mara: I also work with a bunch of video producers who make wonderful content and videos for us, including a new six-part documentary series that is coming out at the end of this month. For this series, my coworker and I went to Australia last year to document the launch of two sounding rockets, which are these small rockets which just take instruments—no humans—into space for a brief flight. We created this really fun documentary series about that.

Mara: So, sometimes my job as a science writer entails a bit more than just writing. In addition to that I do a bit of freelance science writing for different publications and magazines both online and print. This is a fun way for me to write about things that don’t have to do with the Sun sometimes, things a bit closer to Earth often.

QUESTIONS

It’s apparent that you have a passion for both writing and photography. Break down those interests for me. Do they coexist, or do you find yourself prioritizing one more than the other?

Yeah, they definitely coexist—and quite nicely actually. I am a Science Writer and that’s sort-of the basis of my job, but I’ve always loved photography and it’s always been a hobby. Now, it’s great that I can use it in my job from time-to-time. When I’m doing reporting from the field, I can take photos, which can add to the story that I’m writing and can help people really visualize the place. I love being able to combine those two things.

If you’re hired for a writing job, is it always welcomed to accompany that with your photography, because it’s probably something that you prefer as well?

Yeah, I prefer it and the editors and publications definitely love to have that as well. It’s great to be able to offer that.

As a photographer, you would’ve seen a lot of picturesque places. Which is your favorite that you have captured, and do you remember your experience photographing it?

I’ve done a lot of traveling, I’m very privileged in that way. But, I think one of my favorite photos is one I took almost in my backyard. I just went for a hike one day in the forest and it was just a beautiful, foggy morning and the light came through just right, and I snapped a photo. I think that’s one of my favorites; it’s close to home. 

I know everyone is familiar with the saying “a picture means a thousand words.” You have a unique perspective on that since you write words and take pictures; do you think that saying is correct?

I think it really does. There are things that you can capture in words that you can’t always capture in photos, but there are definitely things photos bring forth that you would need a lot more words for.

I noticed that both of your degrees are science-based. How did you get into writing from there?

I think I always liked writing, and for my undergraduate degree I went to a liberal arts college, so there was a lot of focus there on writing. There were a lot of classes that we took that had to have a writing component in them, even our science classes. I think that really gave me a good background in writing and how to become a good writer, but it’s definitely been a learning journey along the way. Now that I’m fully a writer, I’m still learning how to be a better writer.

You said it was college that immersed you into scientific journalism. In high school or when you were younger, did you have any interest in writing, or was it something that came later on?

Definitely, I think I wrote a few little novels and stuff when I was in high school. I also loved reading science journals, even though I didn’t recognize it as that at the time—National Geographic articles and stuff like that.

Which feels the most rewarding or satisfying to you: creating work for others, whether that be freelancing for magazines or writing for NASA or writing for yourself?

I think I find writing for others more rewarding. One thing that I like about my job is I’m creating this project that anyone can access, and anyone can learn from. It’s not something that you have to go out and buy.

What is the appeal of astrophysics to you? Talk to me about how you view the field of study and how you approach it in your work, because it’s obviously very complex and it’s hard to break it down into laymans terms, like you said in your presentation.

I’ve always loved astrophysics. Like I said, I’ve always loved those big questions and understanding the way that our universe works. Now that I’m a science writer, I love that I get to talk to all kinds of different scientists and astronauts and Nobel Laureates about their work and get to hear first hand about new discoveries. It’s challenging, but it’s a lot of fun to be able to take that and think “how can I make this so that anyone could understand it?”

You said you talked to Nobel Laureates and extremely experienced professionals. Do you have a particular experience that was just a “wow” moment for you?

I think the first time I talked to a Nobel Laureate, I was very intimidated. They’re like celebrities, essentially. But while talking to them, they were just so helpful and willing to answer all of my very simple questions. It’s cool to have that interaction and think “these people really love science” no matter what level you’re coming from. 

Tell me about the five-part science documentary series that you mentioned on your website.

We just dropped the trailer for that. Last summer, my colleague and I went to Australia to follow the sounding rockets as they were launching. The mission was trying to look at Alpha Centauri A and B, which are two of our closest stars to the Sun. They were looking at those stars to try to figure out how stars influence the planets around them, in the context of looking for life. So we got to go along and do a bunch of videography for that to answer that question and share that journey with everyone.

This was obviously a collaborative project. What was the specific role you played and how did you work with the people around you to create this product?

It started with one of my coworkers who is also a science writer. We worked together in Australia to film the series and write the script. The series is hosted by my colleague, so he’s onscreen, talking us through things while I was doing a lot of the videography. When we came back from that trip, we’ve been working with an amazing team of video producers here to help us put it all together and make it into this short documentary series.

Was the transition to cinematography natural, since you were already familiar with cameras as a photographer, or was it a skill you had to ease into?

Definitely both. Since I have a background in photography, I already understood some of those basic elements of composition and how to use different settings on a camera. But, photography is entirely different from cinematography in some ways, so there was definitely a lot of learning curve—especially in the beginning—to figure out how things work in that context.

Do you have a favorite scene or a favorite moment you filmed? 

Yeah, there’s a few actually. We wanted this series to be humorous and light-hearted and fun, so there’s a lot of funny little scenes that we recorded along the way that you’ll see when it comes out.

Is there anything about your job that gets redundant or tiring? Are there certain topics that you are less interested in covering than others?

I’ve been doing this job for about seven years now, and there are definitely some topics that get a little tiring. A lot of the stuff we’re talking about is fairly complex. Like we’re talking about small electrons and particles flying through space around Earth; it can be very abstract. Some of that gets very repetitive in some of what we’re covering. But, the advantage of that is I understand it a lot better now than when I started, which makes it easier to write about every time. It’s a double-edged sword.

Do you hold yourself to a standard while writing and constantly want to improve, or is your job more relaxed now, since you’ve been doing it for about seven years?

I think some of both. There’s some things that I write that I know how to write about. I haven’t perfected it, but I have a good way of doing it. But at the same time, I’m always trying to just overall become a better writer. So always trying to think of new ways to do things, and reading other people’s work to see how they’ve approached different topics. 

Were you “discovered” in any way? How did you gain a platform with your work so your work is noticed?

I don’t really have a personal platform since all my work is published through different magazines or through NASA. But, I think it’s like a mini snowball. The more I write, the more people see my work, and the more editors see my work, so it kind of grows from there.

Did you have a spotlight piece that got a lot of media attention and led to you getting more opportunities?

I can’t think of one thing in particular, I do know some other science writers who have covered one topic, which led them to become the science writing expert on that topic. People typically come to them for that subject.

A lot of people want to work for NASA, especially students with passions for STEM. Was the job what you expected?

I think it’s been even better than I expected. I work with such an amazing team of people. There’s so many talented people at NASA in general, whether it’s the scientists or engineers or administrators, or all of the support teams. It’s a really wonderful environment to meet all kinds of new people and have lectures and learn things that you would otherwise know nothing about. A lot of fun. And, there’s a ton of internships available for people from high school to graduate school.

Do science writers at NASA work completely individually or is there a lot of collaboration that occurs?

It’s a bit of both. There’s a bunch of different divisions: the Heliophysics division I’m in; there’s the Astrophysics division, Earth Sciences… Usually, we work as a team in each of the divisions, so we don’t usually work with other divisions. We do collaborate and say “hey, I have this thing coming up, do you want to help promote it?” But then, within Heliophysics we do work really closely together. I’m always working with our data visualizers and graphic designers to help complement the writing that I’m doing.

How do you balance your employment with NASA, your freelance work, and your other creative activities like your documentary series?

It’s a lot of prioritizing what needs to get done. That’s true of a lot of writing; you’re sort-of juggling a bunch of things at once and trying to just be organized with stuff really helps with that.

As a student journalist with a massive interest in all things related to astrophysics, how do you balance these two interests of science and writing in your job?

All the writing is very focused on science at the center, like writing about a new scientific discovery, for example. That’s the motivating thing that I’m trying to describe and then the creative aspect comes on top of that and helps make it more accessible, whether it’s through metaphors or creative language to help people understand. At the heart of it, like the most important thing, is conveying the science and making sure that’s accurate. Second to that is making it fun to read for people.

Is scientific journalism the field you want to stay in for the rest of your career?

Yeah, I think staying in science writing; I really enjoy getting to learn new things, I think that’s really fun and like love always. Getting to learn new things makes it new everyday too; it’s not like I’m just writing the same thing all of the time.

How in-depth do you have to understand the scientific concepts behind what you write about, and is it something I should study more in my undergrad? 

I have more of a higher-level understanding; it’s not like super in-depth. When I get a new paper from a scientist that I’m going to write about, I go through and read it and try to get a basic understanding of it. I write down a whole bunch of questions that I have and things I don’t really understand. Then, I get to talk to the scientist, and maybe other scientists as well, and they really help me understand it enough so that I can write about it for the public. Perhaps more important that becoming an expert in every single aspect of science, which is impossible, it’s better to have a basic understanding of how science works and how to read a scientific journal—which is a huge skill in itself—as well as how to ask questions to make sure you understand things. I think the biggest skill is learning how to ask questions. In undergrad, if you know you want to write about something specific, then it’s good to take classes in that. Or, take classes in everything if you want to study everything. But I will say that it’s more helpful to come to science writing from a science background than a writing background since it’s easier to learn writing along the way than learning a whole field of science. I do know people who have gone both ways.

What does a typical day look like for you? 

Typically, I like to start working pretty early in the morning. I find that I write and focus the best in the morning—I’m a morning person, I guess. Some days I’ll be doing research or conducting interviews or having meetings with my teammates. Other days I’ll set up chunks of time to really focus on writing since I need more space in my schedule to be able to do that more—the writing side of things. I like to get all my work done early and I can go outside and do other hobbies later in the day.

How do you get started on your assignments and what does each assignment demand from you? 

For my work at NASA, our scientists will come to us and say “I have this new discovery that I think will be important to share with the public.” Then, I’ll take that paper, or what they might have, to read through it and try to get that understanding. That’s where I’ll ask a bunch of questions before sitting down to write the news story, whatever it is. Science is sort-of the most important part, so I’ll make sure all of that text gets fact checked by the scientist and that it’s all accurate and there’s nothing that I got wrong on the way—which can happen because I am not an expert.

In the process of scientists coming to you with their novel discoveries, have you ever denied a writing request?

Sometimes we’re just too busy. There’s some things we don’t have the time to cover; we’re a limited team size so unfortunately we are not able to cover every new scientific discovery. 

Are there any resources you’d recommend for aspiring science journalists to look into for more guidance?

There’s a great website; it’s called The Open Notebook. They have all kinds of resources, whether you’re looking to get into science writing, or you have specific areas you want to learn about more—like how to conduct a good interview, or technical aspects of writing. So that’s a really great one for people interested in science writing.