This Week: Becky Crew

This week we welcome Becky Crew, a science writer and award-winning blogger. Becky writes about the wacky but wonderful lives of weird animals in her blog at Scientific American and she's got a book due to be released in October about more animal weirdness. She was formerly the Online Editor of Australia's Cosmos Magazine. Becky is based in Sydney, Australia.

During the course of this week, Becky will talk about how her science blogging led to a job at a science magazine and a book deal with NewSouth Press, and will share one of her favourite stories about the lengths scientists go to replace myth with scientific fact. But without further ado, let's hear from Becky herself...

It's incredibly fun. I used to write about music before I stumbled onto science writing and it got to the point where I just wasn't as inspired as I was when I started out. That will never happen when you're writing about science, because every day you're discovering something new, whether it's a bizarre animal you've never heard of before, or a new species that no one's heard of before. And this applies to all areas in science. It's just the best industry to be a part of.

What are your motivations and aims as a science writer?

I'm motivated by my belief that everyone has an interest in science, but because of the way it can be taught and communicated to the general public, often they just don't know it. There aren't many people who wouldn't be excited by the discovery of some incredible cosmic phenomenon or fascinated by a strange new species of deep-sea creature-if it's communicated in a way that appeals to them. The last thing you want to do as a science writer is alienate people because you're making it too hard for them to understand what you're talking about, and on the other hand, you don't want to lose the interest of your more science literate audience either, so there's a bit of a balancing act. It's also my aim as a science writer to spread my enthusiasm for the animal kingdom,which will never stop delivering surprises like the wonderful pigbutt worm.

What will you be writing about here on ScholarCast over the next few days?

I didn't come to be a science writer in the most conventional way, so I'll be talking about what you can do when you want to begin a career in science journalism but aren't sure where to start. I'll also talk about one of my favourite conversations with a scientist, and a story about how early scientists solved the mystery of the egg.

In one sentence, how would you describe your experience with science?

Science needs to get out more and meet new people, I'm really happy to be its wingman.