EEB Digital Fellows initiative: new member, tweaked format

PhD integrative biology student Jamily Lorena is the new member of the third cohort of EEB Digital Fellows. Last year’s digital fellow Bruna Amaral will take on a second year.

Digital fellows combine training and creating in recognition of academia’s growing interest in science communication.

“The EEB Digital Fellows program continues to evolve, and we are excited about the new paths and innovations,” said EEB Director Elise Zipkin. “The digital fellows program gives EEB graduate students a chance to learn exciting new skills, as well as to apply their talents and styles to elevate the work that’s done within EEB.”

Each will receive a $3,000 stipend.

Lorena is in Ingo Braasch’s group and IBIO’s Amaral is in Zipkin’s lab.

The EEB Digital Fellows Program provides an opportunity for two graduate students to gain a deep understanding of the value of digital media for communicating and sharing scientific research for a wide range of audiences during the academic year. With support and training from mentors Daniel Trego and Sue Nichols, the EEB digital fellows will co-run EEB’s X (formerly Twitter), assist in reevaluating EEB’s chosen social media choices, and produce a story project on research within EEB.

Fellows will develop an understanding of what is a digital presence and how to intentionally develop one to meet specific goals. This year sees a temporal shift, with Lima starting spring semester to better align her social media knowledge curve with the academic calendar. Fellows will create a story designed to communicate an EEB research project using their chosen media (writing, photography, podcasting, video).

In November 2022, Lorena won a graduate student award for excellence in research and science communication at the Society for Developmental Biology Midwest Conference.

“Every time I visit places such as the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, I find myself wondering about working in a place that is committed to combine creativity, science and technology, with the mission to turn scientific discoveries into understandable and joyful experiences to anyone,” she said in her application.

Amaral will continue developing EEBCast – the loose name for a project she began with digital fellow Ayley Shortridge, and which is morphing with an eye on interactive features.

“Stay tuned,” Nichols said. “Cool things are brewing.”