Julie Thole Is 2008 AAAS/ASPB Mass Media Fellow

Julie Thole

Julie Thole, of Washington University in St. Louis, is the 2008 recipient of the AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship, sponsored by ASPB. She will spend 10 weeks this summer working at Discover magazine in New York City, where she will learn about science reporting and various other aspects of magazine production. Julie is currently a PhD candidate in the plant biology program, where she is advised by Dr. Erik Nielsen (currently at University of Michigan) and Dr. Ralph Quatrano. Julie has focused her thesis work on understanding the role of phosphoinositides in polarized growth, particularly in Arabidopsis root hairs. She received her BS in plant biology from the University of Illinois in Urbana–Champaign in May 2003, where she studied anticancer compounds in elderberries with Dr. David Seigler. Her awards and honors include an honorable mention NSF graduate research fellowship in 2004, and she was a 2005 ASPB travel grant winner. Julie enjoys writing and talking to people about science and hopes to pursue a career incorporating these interests. She is grateful to ASPB for sponsoring her fellowship this summer.

The AAAS Mass Media Fellowship is designed to enhance coverage of science-related issues in the media to improve public understanding and appreciation of science and technology. Fellows work for 10 weeks during the summer as reporters, researchers, and production assistants in mass media organizations nationwide. They collaborate with media professionals at radio and television stations, newspapers, and magazines to make important science news clear and comprehensible to the public. This is ASPB’s fifth year of participation in this 34-year old program, which has sponsored more than 500 fellows.