Welcome to Free Radicals–the annual webmag published by the students in Boston University’s Science and Medical Journalism master’s degree program. We are a hodgepodge of biologists, literature buffs, computer hackers, and seasoned reporters. This year, our chosen theme is the New England waterfront—hence the name On the Water. (See past years’ themed issues here.) So, you can expect a bonanza of print and multimedia stories about the ocean—covering subjects from the incredibly long lives of lobsters to technological advances in sea navigation.
We’re proud of what we’ve done here and we hope you’ll like it too.
(Img Cred: Sasha Francis, Mystic Aquarium)
And now, a personal note from this year’s graduating class, inspired by John Hughes:
Saturday, October 12, 2011
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts 02215
Dear World,
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole three semesters and our financial stability for at least the next decade in order to pursue our passion for writing about science. What we did was risky. But we’d be happy to write you an essay telling you why we made this move and exactly who we think we are. In the simplest terms, and in the most convenient definitions, we are a marine biologist, a biochemist, an ecologist, a newspaper journalist, a tech support lifeline, a wildlife advocate, and a diagnostics developer. That’s the way we saw each other three semesters ago. But now we know, we are also a MacGyver emulator, a baker of unpredictable pastries, a wanderer, a robot enthusiast, a technophile, an advocate of British spelling, and the ultimate title-writer. The future may be uncertain, but we’re no longer afraid to pursue it.
Sincerely,
BUSciJo—class of 2012
