About the Fellowship
The Science Communication Fellowship offered by the Geological Society of America provides a dynamic
eleven-month journey for science writers, journalists, or scientists passionate about sharing their knowledge.
Participants will immerse themselves in an enriching environment, working closely with GSA's marketing and
communications team and leading members to hone their skills and expand their professional networks. This
fellowship is an extraordinary chance to engage deeply with the scientific community and enhance one's
communicative impact to the non-scientific community.
With funding from the GSA Foundation's Bruce and Karen Clark fund, the goal of the
Fellowship is to help improve communication of geoscience knowledge between the members of GSA and the
non-scientific community.
Fellowship candidates should understand how to interview authors to capture the significance of their work for
non-scientific audiences and translate technical research papers into well-developed and compelling content
including press releases, blog articles, and podcasts.
The Fellow will assist in developing a content calendar that will feature various mediums and cadence of
content for the duration of the Fellowship term, which will be selected from the Society’s top-rated,
peer-reviewed geoscience journals and from abstracts submitted by scientists to the extensive technical program
for the GSA Annual Meeting.
The Fellow will also help staff the onsite Newsroom at the GSA Annual Meeting, assist members of the media
covering the meeting, pitch stories to local and national media outlets, interview innovative and newsworthy
science authors, and mentor student interns considering a career in science communication.
Current Fellow
Arianna Soldati
2023–2024 GSA Science Communication Fellow
Arianna Soldati is an Assistant Professor in Volcanology at North Carolina State University. Her lab group
works on a variety of topics, ranging from effusive eruptions to critical minerals. She received her Ph.D. in
Geological Sciences from the University of Missouri–Columbia, where she specialized in lava flow rheology, i.e.
how far and how fast can lava flow.
Arianna was part of the inaugural cohort of Science Communication Interns at the 2017 GSA Annual
Meeting. She has delivered over 50 public lectures, led countless outreach activities, and has contributed
writing for GSA’s guest blog Speaking of Geoscience, as well as Scientific American, National Geographic, and
CNN, among other outlets. Arianna also founded her own traveling outreach program, Science on Wheels, which
brings science done by graduate students to adults living in rural communities, giving them the chance to meet a
scientist right in their hometown and promoting a positive perception of science.