As a backgrounder for writers, editors, bloggers, and filmmakers, the University of California High-Performance AstroComputing Center (UC-HiPACC) is sponsoring a three-day Science/Engineering Journalism Boot Camp “Computational Astronomy: From Planets to Cosmos” on June 25-27, 2012, plus a welcome reception the evening before (June 24). The very first journalism boot camp on astronomy to be held on the West Coast, it will focus on today’s pioneering investigations in planetary science, stellar astronomy, explosive and high energy astrophysics, dark matter and dark energy, and cosmology — including the latest need-to-know insights on just how astronomers craft instrumentation and analytical techniques.

The boot camp will be an intensive and stimulating immersion experience for a select group of 12 to 16 practicing science or engineering journalists from all media — print, online, broadcast, social media, and film — whether on staff or freelance.

Presentations will be led by top astrophysics faculty from across the campuses of the University of California system and from affiliated Department of Energy National Laboratories. A round-table session at the end of the second day will be devoted to discussion of journalistic challenges, such as accurately portraying complex techniques and exciting science when industry pressures are toward ever shorter stories.

On the first two full days, sessions will be held on the campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz, home to the University of California Observatories (UCO), the Center for Adaptive Optics, and the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, and will include an on-campus field trip to the famous UCO Instrument Laboratories. The third day will be a behind-the-scenes field trip to two institutions leading in astrocomputing: NASA Ames Research Center (to see the Pleiades supercomputer and the 128-screen Hyperwall) and the California Academy of Sciences (to see the visualization facilities of the digital Morrison Planetarium).

Expenses for the Journalism Boot Camp will be underwritten by UC-HiPACC. In addition to the program and field trip, participating journalists will receive housing for four nights (June 24-27), local transportation, most meals, and reimbursement of up to US $800.00 for long-distance travel.

More information about the boot camp, including confirmed faculty and application form:
http://hipacc.ucsc.edu/2012CAJBC.html

Application form plus all supporting materials are due to UC-HiPACC by Friday, March 30, 2012. Journalists selected will be announced in April. Questions can be addressed to Trudy E. Bell.

Contact:
Trudy E. Bell, M.A.
Science/Technology Writer and Editor
tebell@ucsc.edu
+1 216-221-5008

More information about UC-HiPACC:
http://hipacc.ucsc.edu