Science Communication Fellowship

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.

About the Fellowship

GSA’s Science Communication Fellowship is an opportunity for a science writer, journalist or scientist with a passion for communicating to spend 11 months gaining experience and professional contacts, working in concert with GSA communications and member leaders.

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. 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 press releases for general media outlets with lay readership.  The Fellow will write a minimum of 12 press releases throughout the Fellowship term, 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, and mentor student interns considering a career in science communication.

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