Madison Brewer (she/her), 2021 Physics Today Science Writing Intern

Biography

SPS Chapter: University of Pittsburgh

My name is Madison Brewer, and I am a rising senior at the University of Pittsburgh pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in astronomy and non-fiction writing. As a double major, I am able to use my interdisciplinary education to tackle science and technical writing. I have worked for Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) College of Engineering as a Writing and Communications Intern. While I write some student and alumni feature stories, my writing at CMU primarily focuses on faculty research, and four of my stories were republished on Phys.org . Before CMU, I wrote for the University of Pittsburgh’s student newspaper, The Pitt News, where I wrote about campus events and news. This fall, I will service as President of my university’s chapter of SPS. I am also Vice President of Women and Minorities in Physics at Pitt. My goal is to create a positive culture of growth and support among students in the physics and astronomy department.

Internship

Host: American Institute of Physics

Project

Abstract

When it comes to publishing, there is a lot of behind the scenes work—writing isn’t the only thing to be done. There’s also research and interviewing and editing, processes that require at least five people in addition to the writer. I have gotten to see this firsthand as well as take part in it this summer. Much like science, writing is a collaborative process. And at science publications like Physics Today, writers and researchers must work together to create an accurate and exciting story. I will outline the process of composing a story, from finding the research to posting it on the website. Other steps include interviewing, writing, and editing. This presentation will focus on “Jerk causes energy loss on the loop-the-loop,” an article I wrote for the Physics Today website about the iconic demonstration.

Final Presentation

Internship Blog

Week One: We did it folks!

Welp—we did it folks! Before this week started, I was nervous and excited and had so many questions about what my summer might hold. Would I get to write this week? Would my mentor be nice? Would the other interns be cool? Would I like this job? I am happy to announce that (so far) the answer to all of these questions is yes!

At our orientation, Dr. Jack Hehn talked to us, and he said that we were all working physicists. He told us that we were contributing to the physics community. This set the tone for my experience: I should be confident because what I am doing is important! Later in the day, I got to meet my mentor and get my first taste of working at a magazine. She sent me lots of articles to look over. Some were about science writing, while others came from Physics Today so I could get a taste of the magazine’s flavor.

Later in the week, we got to meet Dr. David Helfand and ask him questions about science communication, which (as I’m sure you could guess) I was very excited about. I loved how he approached non-scientists with an open mind and recognized the responsibility scientists have in the process of science communication. As an astronomy and writing major, I have been grappling with this question for years—how much does each person need to do to make communication happen?

Early in the week, I helped one of the editors do research for her story, but by Thursday, I was ready to write my own. Though the piece only needed to be 400 words, I found myself struggling with each sentence. After all, adapting to a new style doesn’t happen overnight! By the end of the day on Friday, I’d written over half of the story, but I suspect Monday’s fresh eyes will find many edits.

Finally, the other interns and I had a movie night on Friday. We watched AntMan, which was the movie I voted for! It was great to talk with them again.

Overall, I had an amazing first week! It was, however, very exhausting. I spent the weekend catching up on rest, but I am ready to take on week 2 with the same enthusiasm as this one!

Week Two: Contributing to the team

Last week was introductions, but this week has been full of real work. I got to experience what it was like to be an adult employee! Even though I’m just an intern, the Physics Today editors have made me feel like I’m really part of the team.

I started the week by attending the online content editorial meeting. I thought the meeting would be about pieces we were writing and stories to be posted, but we didn’t talk about that at all. Instead, we focused on web design and viewership—two important attributes of a successful online magazine. I had always assumed that the website team was completely separate from the writing one, but that isn’t the case. They work together to keep the online content relevant to readers and the website functionality at its best.

During the meeting, they asked me how I got my science news, and I was able to share the (little) information I know about being successful on Twitter. It was so exciting to be a useful member of the team. As an intern, you spend most of your time trying to learn how to succeed in the field, so I was happy to give a little more back to the magazine.

My first story for the website is almost complete! I finished the draft early in the week, and then got comments from my mentor and two other editors. We had a meeting so they could explain their comments and I could understand what they were looking for. Even though they said my draft was well written, there were a lot of changes I needed to make. Most of them had to do with clarity, but I also learned some of Physics Today’s unique style rules. For example, they use an en dash instead of a hyphen when the words have equal weight, and they spell out the names of US states. In addition, they only use “while” when two events are happening simultaneously and only use “constant” when something is not changing with time. Next week, I’m going to have a second round of comments to review.

I also got to edit some print magazine pieces this week. I was a little nervous though, so I didn’t post too many comments. I mean, all these people have been working at Physics Today since before I ever considered writing as a career! (Though I should mention that the idea of writing as a career started after I started college.) After I sent back my comments, my mentor let me know that the comment I left on her piece was very helpful and that I was the only person to point it out.

Then, I helped research stories for the next issue of the magazine. The editors look for academic articles published within the last month that make big contributions to their fields. I spent much of this week scouring journals, press releases, and emails for recent studies that fit this description. Then, I looked for experts so we can ask their opinion of the articles we chose in their field.

Finally, our week ended with an SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma Happy Hour, where we played Pictionary! It was really fun (and I was really good at it). Moments like these make me wish our internship was in person, but getting to virtually hang out is the next best thing.

Week Three: A working writer

This week was magazine heavy. Each issue takes a month to perfect. Between stories, art, page design, book and product reviews, and articles written by experts, there is a lot of planning to be done in advance. I didn’t have much writing to do this week; instead, I got to do behind the scenes work. My first story was finally approved by the editors, and then I sent it to the researchers whose work it was about. They only had a few edits (and they complimented my writing), giving me a much needed ego boost. With their approval, I sent the piece to the copy editors. (For those who don’t know, copy editors check for Physics Today style. That is, they make sure the pieces follow our grammar rules.)

With that completed, it was time to find a topic for my second piece. I thought it would be fairly easy—there’s plenty of interesting research—but boy was I wrong. Interesting research doesn’t necessarily equal an interesting story, and distinguishing between the two was difficult. My mentor also encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, so I tried to avoid astronomy topics. It was especially hard because so much astronomy research immediately struck me as interesting! Reading papers about other areas of physics, such as optics and materials science, was challenging, but I found an interesting paper to write about.

I am also working on a book review. It will be short, only about 100 words, but I am excited for the new opportunity. I had never written a book review before. Ryan, the New Books and Media editor, showed me how to write a useful review without spending hours pouring over the text. It was easier than I thought it would be, though I spent a lot of time looking at past reviews for structure and style.

My final task this week was to look for art for the “backscatter,” which is a science image printed towards the end of the magazine. I searched for science artists, and I will email them next week to see if they have any images for us.

One of the most fun parts of the week was playing werewolf with the other interns. Everyone took the game the perfect amount of serious, so it was a great time. Then, on Tuesday, I met Maura at Dunkin on our university campus. We simulated working in an office before getting lunch at a nearby park.

Overall, this week was great, and I think next week will be too!

Week Four: A published writer

Last week, I learned a lot about being a working writer. But this week, I became a published writer! My first story appeared on the Physics Today website on Friday, June 25. (Don’t worry, I’ve marked it in my calendar.)

I have been working on my first story since the first week of my internship. The process was long, but seeing my words appear on the website makes it all worth it. Writing a professional story is rather simple, but at the same time, it is very complicated. The idea is straightforward enough: read an academic paper and find a narrative. But in practice, writing is a team sport. After you’ve finished your draft, you send it to the editors for comments. You fix the comments, you send it back, you get more comments. This process repeats until the story is fully polished. (It usually won’t take more than three rounds of comments.) But the editing isn’t over yet. The researchers—the original paper writers—get to comment on your work. Then you send the piece to the copy editors, who look for Physics Today style. It gets looked at by the proofreader and a final check from the editors. After all that, the story is finally posted.

My first story was about sodium layers above Boulder, CO. You can read my story here !

As for my social life, it has been flourishing (given, of course, that we’re all online). I video chatted with some of the other interns on Monday evening. We compared the physics and astronomy programs at our schools. I was really surprised to hear that at small colleges, they had classes with only three students. At my large university, those classes wouldn’t form!

On Wednesday, I met Maura for coffee and to work together. We went to a small Pittsburgh cafe with these delicious giant cookies. Usually I get snickerdoodle, but this time I went for chocolate chip. Next time, though, I think I’ll have to return to snickerdoodle. Maura’s fancy cappuccino was in a large mug, but my decaf latte was only in a plastic cup. (I was jealous of her mug—it was so fun!)

This weekend, I plan to relax. But my next story is already to the editors, so hopefully I will soon have a second published story on my resume.

Week Five: Another day, another story

It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the internship. I’ve learned and written so much already. This week I got two new assignments that are sure to keep me busy.

I look at a lot of papers for work. Every day I look through press releases I receive via email. Looking at new papers is interesting, but a lot of research is just small steps towards an overall goal of understanding our universe. While this research is important, it doesn’t make a very good story. There is a tension between scientists and communicators as a result. I often hear researchers complain that the media will only report on the most exciting research and lead with a flashy headline instead of the raw results. But one must remember that reporters have bills to pay too. Not every academic paper is interesting enough to write even 300 words about. And even if I could squeeze a 300 word story from the paper, that doesn’t guarantee anyone will read it. The media simply does not have the resources to write about every paper nor can it waste time on stories no one would read.

But this isn’t to say all scientists are bad or the media is inherently good. It’s just to say that there is a balance. For one of my stories, the authors of the paper emailed me to say how much they liked it (which nearly made me cry).

Next week, I will get to work directly with scientists on one of my new assignments. Andrew, one of my mentors and an editor, sent me an academic paper to write a story about. Though it’s similar to the updates I’ve already written, this piece is going to be longer—about 500 words. And, on Tuesday, I’ll get to interview the scientists about their work. I’m really excited to add this human element to my story. I started writing the parts of the piece that I don’t need the interview for (the parts about physics), but I haven’t come up with a good angle for the story. That is, I don’t know what the story structure will be. But I expect the angle to reveal itself during the interview. Interviews allow the writer to ask the characters for their story. What the characters share, and in what order, provides a narrative to weave into the piece.

My other assignment is somewhat tedious—I must comb through old magazines. Not everything about work can be as glamorous as publishing pieces! But someone has to do the busy work, and I don’t mind it much. Every once and a while everyone needs a mindless task.

Week Six: The Fourth of July

Thanks to the Fourth of July, this week was short. The four days flew by, but that might have more to do with the fact that I was really busy. And my second story was published this week!

On Tuesday, I interviewed two researchers for one of my stories. They were really nice and had a lot to say. A writer’s ideal interviewee talks as much as they can. The more your subject talks, the more information (and quotes!) you can get out of them. This makes writing the final piece much easier. After the interview, I typed up all the best quotes. It ended up filling nearly three pages! But I think it’s better to type up more quotes than you need because it gives you more liberty in choosing quotes. Nothing is worse than realizing you need to go back to the recording and listen for another quote.

Once my quotes were transcribed, it was time to write. Writing the story was much easier once I had material to work with. As I wrote, I kept the quotes in mind. Suddenly, good spots for quotes started jumping out at me. My writing was flowing.

I attended a “water cooler talk” on Wednesday. These are designed to maintain the social aspect of the office while we’re virtual. I was really nervous it was going to be awkward. And it was a little bit. But I really enjoyed it! It was nice to understand the PT team as people, not just writers or editors or whatever they are. I think I’m going to another one next week, but now I’m not as worried about it.

On Thursday, I met Maura at the art museum cafe to work. Unfortunately, we had not considered that there would be a lot of people, you know, visiting the museum. We were there right at the lunch rush, so it was really busy. Plus I later found out that there are discounts and free events Thursday evenings.

In the evening, we had our internship Fourth of July picnic! The event started with a talk from former congressman Rush Holt. He was really nice and had a lot to say about science policy. I could tell the science policy interns were very excited to meet him. I asked him about how he saw his role in the chain of science communication, which I don’t think he was expecting. After that, we played jackbox games. I did surprisingly well! (The last time we played I nearly came in last.)

Friday was more of the same old work day. Not much interesting happened, and I got a lot done. I finished piecing together my story from the interview. On Monday I have a lot of editing to do. Even though the draft is done, I know it needs some work. Mostly small details like transitions and flow, but work nonetheless. I’m excited to tackle some tasks next week, especially ones for an event I’m covering. Reporter is a bit of a different hat than science writer, but I am ready to wear it.

Week Seven: September already?

This week was pretty busy. Draft due early in the week, research due by the end, and preparation for the September magazine gave me lots to do.

My first task for the week was to finish the story I’ve been working on. My draft was basically complete on Friday, but I wanted the weekend to refresh my eyes before sending it in. It was a good thing I did because there was a lot that I changed. I had about 80 words to delete to get it back under the word limit, so my first edit was finding those. But after deleting all the extra words and sentences, I realized there was more I wanted to say. The only problem was I couldn’t figure out where. I tried lots of different places but none of them seemed right. Even in my final draft it didn’t feel right. And the editors agreed. They said it felt out of place, so I’m going to need to add more context to keep it. That is, if I need to keep it. I worked on addressing the edits on Friday, but it was difficult. Hopefully I can have that done by early next week.

Another interesting thing in the edits was Physics Today’s policy on quotes. Since we often check with those quoted before publishing, it’s okay to change the quotes—but only a little. If you cut out the middle of a quote, you’re supposed to replace it with an ellipsis. But Physics Today doesn’t do that. At one of my previous jobs, we had a similar policy. There, we even let sources change their quotes!

In addition, we don’t have to cite everything they said. For example, at The Pitt News (University of Pittsburgh’s student newspaper), you couldn’t just say “the water was cold.” You had to write “the water was cold, they said.” But at Physics Today, you don’t need the “they said.” I found that to be surprising. Every publication is a little bit different, so you just have to know who you’re writing for.

We finished the week with our meetings for the September issue. Editors chose which stories would go into the magazine. I think I will be getting more work next week because I will be writing more book and media reviews. But I like busy—keeps things exciting.

Week Eight: It’s ending

It finally hit me that the summer is coming to an end. With this week done, there are only two left in the internship. I’m sad it’s ending—I still feel like there is so much to do.

I had another article published this week! The piece, titled “Jerk causes energy loss on the loop-the-loop,” is about the finer details of the physics of a ball traveling down the track. I’m pretty proud of this one—I think it’s my favorite so far this summer. I’m working on another piece about the International Physics Olympiad competition. With event coverage, you want to publish as soon as possible. It finished on Saturday so my plan is to turn my draft into the editors on Monday. It’s almost done, I just need to add the results and smooth the draft. I’m excited to do some harder news—it’ll be nice in my list of experiences.

I also wrote two short reviews for the new books and media section of the September magazine. One was about a documentary and the other was about a book with high resolution science images. Plus the book review I wrote earlier in the summer will be published in the September magazine. I’m really excited to see my writing in print.

Finally, I’m working on the Back Scatter section of the September magazine. I found a cool science image to print and I am currently working on writing the text. I’ve been looking at old Back Scatters to base mine off of, so hopefully I am able to match the style well.

Speaking of endings, Maura is leaving Pittsburgh. I’ve really enjoyed hanging out with her all summer. It’s hard to believe we went to the same school for the same major for three years without really meeting. I’m going to miss going to coffee shops and working with her. It is sad when things end.

On Monday I video chatted with some of the other interns. One intern is moving to the city I’m from, so I was telling him about the area. We also talked about the Olympics, especially about how interesting all these random events are. I know there are still two weeks left but it is sad to see everything ending. I wish we could have been in person so we could have more time together. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know everyone.

And of course I’m sad to end my work. The staff at Physics Today is so great and they’ve taught me a lot this summer. I know endings are just new beginnings, and I am excited to start my final year of college. But it’s still sad to see this chapter end. I guess it’s the beginning of the end.

Week Nine: Exploring passions in science

I started tying up loose ends, putting things neatly back on the shelf, and making my preparations to leave. But I also spent some time this week thinking about what I love to do—and why I love it.

Christine and I spoke about finishing everything up before my last day. My text for the September Back Scatter needed to be shared with editors and my Physics Olympiad story needed the final touches. That part was a little hectic. Emailing for pictures, for extra information the editors wanted, for researchers’ approval of the drafts. But I got it done! And my Physics Olympiad story was published !

I realized, however, that I hadn’t written a single story about astronomy. Astronomy is the reason I got into physics, and I’ve always said that I only put up with physics for astronomy. To spend a whole summer writing for a physics magazine but fail to write about astronomy—well, it seemed pretty crazy to me. So I decided to write one last update for the Physics Today website. It will be a lot of work to get it done in time, but I know I can do it.

And I think this extra work is worth it. Writing is my second love, but astronomy is my first. My goals, my dream jobs, they revolve around writing about astronomy. I had to take this opportunity to do it. (Plus, I’d like to have a published sample piece about astronomy for job applications.) I’ve already sent this last article for its first round of edits, so I think I’m right on track to have it done in time.

This week our virtual talk was from Dr. Matt Wright from Adelphi University. He talked about a lab space on their campus where students can explore original projects and get their first taste of research. Students can pursue projects that reflect the amount of time they can give to them and their level of physics skills and abilities. I really wish we had something like that on my campus.

As a freshman, I had a really hard time seeing myself as a scientist. I resigned myself to being a teacher or maybe some kind of museum employee. I got a job at the Houston Museum of Natural Science as a teaching assistant for their summer camps while my friends stayed in Pittsburgh doing research with an astronomy professor. And then I changed my major to astronomy and non-fiction writing and started taking more humanities classes. Sophomore year, I got a job doing science communication at a nearby university. I had a job in my field! I didn’t need research for my career, so there didn’t seem to be any point in trying. Plus, lots of people I know had found it painfully difficult to find a professor willing to take them. Now I only have one year left and I regret never even trying research. But it seems too late.

I often wonder how my life would be different if I made different choices. If I had tried, could I have started a research project? And if I did, would I have liked it? Would I be planning to go to graduate school? To become a professor? Or would I end up writing anyway?

Dr. Wright’s talk brought a lot of these emotions to the surface. I am happy that his students are getting the support they need to find joy in physics. Finding myself in the science writing niche helped me become confident in myself as a physics (well, astronomy) major. And I love writing, I really do. But I wonder if, given the chance early on, I would say that about research.

I have had extra room in my college schedules, so I’ve signed up for classes I never would have as a freshman. Last semester, I took intro to fiction. Next semester, I’m taking geology—just because it seems cool. I am not where I thought I’d be when I took my first physics class in high school. But I’m somewhere I love to be, and that’s even better.

Week Ten: We did it folks (part 2)

Welp—we did it folks. The internship has ended. It’s so bittersweet. I’m really proud of everything I accomplished this summer. It’s more than I ever dreamed of doing. I wish I could tell twelve-year-old me—who wrote in her diary that writing was her “secret passion"—that I would be a published writer before I finished college.

All my loose ends have been tied up. The September Back Scatter, which I researched and wrote, has been sent to the design team. It’ll be at least a month before I’ll see my writing in print, but it gives me something to look forward to. My book reviews will also be in the September issue under New Books and Media—something else to look forward to. My exoplanet update just needs to go through copy editing before it can be published, and I’ll probably have to take a look at it next week. But then I will be done.

I’m sad to be done. This has been one of the best summers of my life. (After, of course, the summers where I was a child and didn’t have to do any work. Just kidding...kind of.) And I’m going to miss my AIP email. I’ve never had researchers or professors reply as fast as they did to Madison Brewer, AIP employee.

I met with my mentors for the last time yesterday. We talked about how my summer was and if they could have done anything differently. They said I had been very productive, which was funny because some days I didn’t feel like I was doing enough! They also said I was a good writer, which made me feel really good. I got to ask them some of my career questions too. I’ve been worrying about grad school and what kind of qualifications I needed to be a successful science writer. Christine has a physics PhD and Andrew went to grad school for science writing, so it was nice to compare the two paths.

I feel a lot more confident than I did in the beginning of the summer. For one thing, I am more confident about my writing ability. I am also excited about having Physics Today on my resume and writing published there. And I’m more sure of my career path, at least for now.

The final presentations were all fantastic—I mean, what else would you expect. I was so impressed by what everyone else accomplished this summer. This summer was everything I hoped for and more. I’m sad that it’s over but I’m excited to see what’s next. Watch out—this isn’t the last you’ll see of my writing. See you on the other side.