About

On the Same Sage

This project was created to explore the geology and history of the Great Plains region, as well as geology, paleontology, and other topics in general. It will cover topics in deep time, hundreds of millions of years ago, as well as topics in the 19th and 20th century to today. This blog will serve as a platform to spread interesting and unusual information in the sciences, history, and journalism.

This blog is part of an independent study under Dr. Susan Swanberg.

The Author

Nina Kolodij recently earned a Master of Arts in Science and Environmental Journalism from the University of Arizona. Her interests include science journalism and communication, historical journalism, geology, environment and conservation, photojournalism, and travel. In her spare time, she is an avid reader, artist, equestrian, and ballroom dancer.

After growing up in suburban Pennsylvania, Nina decided to explore her passions in Tucson, Arizona. She received her BS in Geology and a minor in Planetary Sciences in Spring of 2018.

Upon completing her undergraduate degree, Nina decided to stay in Tucson to combine her love of science and writing in the form of a Master’s. Her thesis project focused on the science of science of communication. Through a series of interviews, she is collected perspectives from “stakeholders” involved in communicating science: scientists, science journalists, policy influencers and the public. The interviews were published on a website called Speaking Science-ese in an attempt to analyze into the issues present in science communication, as well as to present ideas and opinions on how to better communicate science.

Although Nina’s ultimate goal for the future is to pursue a doctorate in either earth science or science communication, her main objective right now is to gain experience as a science writer. After spending time interning the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural history, Nina realized that working for an organization that shares and encourages her love of the natural world is incredibly important. Because of this, her dream job would probably involve working at a zoo, aquarium, museum, national park, or something along those lines.

“I have always been a science person, and it has become evident that communication between the scientific community and the public is suffering. I took one journalism class in my senior year and was immediately hooked. I want to work on translating tricky nuances of science and research to the world while merging my two biggest passions — science and writing.”

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