UW’s Sharon Dunwoody Science Journalist in Residence, Sabrina Imbler, discussed their experiences with science journalism at the panel “Wonder, Weirdness and Writing about Animals” March 30.
Hosted by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and University Communications, the panel took place at the Goodman Community Center. Graduate student Erin McGroarty moderated the panel, and other speakers included journalism teaching faculty Stacy Forster and graduate student Mary Magnuson.
Imbler currently writes for the Defector, an employee-owned sports and culture website, covering creatures. They are also the author of “How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures.” Imbler is a former New York Times science and health reporting fellow and contributor to The Atlantic.
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Magnuson is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin Nelson Institute, where she focuses her research on coyote and human interactions.
The panel opened with techniques for writing about science topics and how to balance personal narratives with scientific details. Magnuson and Imbler agreed that scientific detail helps further the narrative, while leaving enough ambiguity for readers to interpret the ideas. In their previous works, Imbler said they have used their observations of animals to address their own experiences.
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“There is so much beauty to be gained by understanding [animals] on their own terms,” Imbler said.
The panelists also discussed the ethics of writing about animals. Creatures don’t have the ability to consent to being written about. Imbler said they spoke to a whale researcher who had said whales think about the same things humans do, such as mating, talking and socializing.
“There’s reverence in incomprehensibility, and it’s important that we respect that difference,” Imbler said.
The panelists gave advice for writers who want to prove to editors and publications the importance of creature stories and how to overcome challenges in this topic. Imbler’s biggest piece of advice was to just do it.
They have found that many scientists and science writers pitch research ideas to learn how the animal world can help us solve human problems. They encouraged writers to ignore that pressure and just write about their passions. That is how they would find an audience.
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Magnuson agreed there is a big audience for creature stories. She said it’s easy to start by writing about your own encounters with animals. Most likely, if there is a creature that interests you, someone else will be interested, too.
“People like animals because they’re interesting, so it’s your job to expose them to weird creatures they’ve never seen before,” Magnuson said.
