Journalist
Enter your professional bio here : Amber Dance is an award-winning freelance science journalist based in Southern California. She is a contributor at Knowable Magazine, program director for the New Horizons in Science Briefings at the Sciencewriters annual conference for the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, and an instructor teaching Science Writing I for UCLA Extension. After earning a doctorate in biology, Amber Dance re-trained in journalism as a way to engage her broad interest in science and share her enthusiasm with readers. She was a AAAS Mass Media Fellow at the Los Angeles Times science desk and attended the well-known UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Program. She mainly writes about life sciences, but also enjoys getting out of her comfort zone with topics such as desert astrophysics or glacial archaeology. She has written for many outlets in her career, for audiences ranging from high schoolers to scientific experts, and was a columnist for the LA Times Health section from 2010 to 2011. During the pandemic, she penned the ''Coronavirus Files'' newsletter for the Center for Health Journalism at USC. Her work has received awards from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and the Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Writers, and has been named a ''Top Pick'' by Best Shortform Science Writing. She has also received honorable mentions or runner-up honors from ASJA, Folio Magazine, the Hastings Center, and the Bricker Award for Science Writing in Medicine. Professional service is an important part of Dance's career. In 2014, she shared in the Diane McGurgan Service Award from the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) for ''going beyond the call of duty'' as co-chair of the Awards Committee. She has also served on NASW's Education and Programs Committees. Locally, Dance is a co-founder of the SoCal Science Writing networking group. She co-organized regional conferences with SoCal Science Writing in 2018 and 2019, and served as President from 2022 to 2024. She regularly speaks to groups about her transition from scientist to science writer. https://www.amberldance.com/ https://knowablemagazine.org/our-staff https://casw.org/news/dance-to-direct-new-horizons-2022/ https://casw.org/about/ https://www.uclaextension.edu/writing/creative-writing/course/science-writing-i-writing-x-4251 https://www.aaas.org/programs/mass-media-fellowship https://www.latimes.com/science https://scicom.ucsc.edu/ http://www.pnas.org/content/112/28/8513 http://www.pnas.org/content/112/46/14113 https://nationalpress.org/award-winner/amber-dance/ https://medium.com/scishortform/best-shortform-science-writing-july-december-2020-3fd30e4ad2b5 https://www.thehastingscenter.org/news/three-outstanding-journalists-awarded-excellence-journalism-ethics-reprogenetics/ https://brickeraward.org/awardees/ https://www.nasw.org/article/amber-dance-and-dennis-meredith-earn-2014-mcgurgan-service-award https://www.socalsciencewriting.com/ https://www.amberldance.com/career-transition
Awards and Recognition : Excellence in Reporting Award , American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), 2022 for ''Pencils Down: The Year Pre-College Tests Went Away'' in Knowable Magazine Honorable Mention, Trade , ASJA, 2022 for ''The Incredible Diversity of Viruses'' in Nature Outstanding Article, Trade , ASJA, 2021 for ''Manipulating Memory'' in The Scientist Top Pick, News, Investigative, or Data , Best Shortform Science Writing, July–December 2020 for ''What is a Cytokine Storm?'' in Knowable Magazine Honorable Mention , Consumer, Folio Magazine Eddies, 2020 for ''What is a Cytokine Storm?'' in Knowable Magazine Contributor to Series of Articles , Consumer, Science & Technology, Honorable Mention , Folio Magazine Eddies, 2020 Runner-up, The Hastings Center Awards for Excellence in Journalism on Ethics and Reprogenetics , 2018 for ''Better Beings?'' in Nature Biotechnology Honorable Mention , Bricker Award for Science Writing in Medicine , 2017 Diane McGurgan Service Award , National Association of Science Writers, 2014 For ''going beyond the call of duty'' as co-chairs of the Awards Committee Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Writers , 2010 Award for a science journalist aged 30 or younger Excellence in Teaching Award , UCSD School of Biological Sciences , 2007 https://www.asja.org/13697-2/ https://knowablemagazine.org/article/society/2021/college-admissions-testing-pros-cons https://www.asja.org/13697-2/ https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01749-7 https://www.asja.org/what-we-do/awards/writing-award-winners/ https://www.the-scientist.com/features/how-manipulating-rodent-memories-can-elucidate-neurological-function-67449 https://medium.com/scishortform/best-shortform-science-writing-july-december-2020-3fd30e4ad2b5 https://knowablemagazine.org/article/health-disease/2020/what-cytokine-storm https://www.eddie-ozzie.com/go/2020-eddie-and-ozzie-awards/#eddies https://knowablemagazine.org/article/health-disease/2020/what-cytokine-storm https://knowablemagazine.org/report/building-bodies https://www.eddie-ozzie.com/go/2020-eddie-and-ozzie-awards/#eddies https://www.thehastingscenter.org/news/three-outstanding-journalists-awarded-excellence-journalism-ethics-reprogenetics/ https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.3998 https://brickeraward.org/awardees/ https://www.nasw.org/article/amber-dance-and-dennis-meredith-earn-2014-mcgurgan-service-award https://nationalpress.org/award-winner/amber-dance/ https://biology.ucsd.edu/
Skills (Select all that apply) : Articles, Feature writing, News, Q&A
List any memberships you have with other organizations : NASW
Professional Membership