Last night was a big night for the Berkeley Science Review. We were named Best Magazine at the ASUC Publications banquet for 2011-2012!

In case you think the competition wasn’t fierce, here’s a list of all the ASUC sponsored publications. ASUC is the student government here at UC Berkeley, and each year they host a ceremony honoring the best publications from around campus. The BSR is no stranger to these awards, having been recognized almost each year since we began publishing in 2001. It was an honor to be there last night and see the BSR recognized as part of the body of high quality work being produced by Berkeley students. The student presenting our award commented on how easy it is for people of any background to pick up an issue of the BSR and enjoy it. Accessibility is one of our major goals in communicating the amazing science happening at UC Berkeley, and it’s nice to know that those efforts are paying off.

On Monday night, I attended the stand-up routine and book reading of Adam Ruben, author of Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School (excerpt). Ruben was able to tap into the universal experiences of graduate students to garner laughs from an audience all too familiar with being “exhausted, overworked, underappreciated, and buried in shit.”

Self-titled “recovering graduate student” Adam Ruben received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University after spending seven years in the program. He left academia to pursue comedy in such ventures as the Food Detective, The National Lampoon, NPR, and opening for Dane Cook; he also works as a microbiologist at a start-up biotechnology company.

Ruben read three sections from the book, which has been acclaimed by the graduate students who have been able to both afford it and have time to read it. (Finding a publisher is difficult when your target market has no money or time.) On the topic of grad school, Ruben said “I went to grad school in the sciences because, like many of you, I was lied to.”

Please join us for an exciting Q&A discussion with Sabin Russell, staff writer/editor at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and former medical science writer at the San Francisco Chronicle.  

RSVP
What: The Berkeley Science Review - Science Writing Seminar
Who: Sabin Russel
When: 6:00PM – Tuesday, January 24th
Where: 100 Boalt School of Law
Why: Come chat with one of the most experienced science writers in the industry!