2002–03 Knight Fellows

2002-03 Knight Fellows

Standing from left:
Pamela Asigi Andiba, Chen May Yee, Lauren Slater, Ruth Helena Bellinghini, John Nikolai
Seated from left:
Alessandro Greco, Trisha Gura, Adam Rogers, Annalee Newitz, Boyce Rensberger, Clive Thompson, Martha Henry, David Paterson
photo by Graham Ramsay

Pamela Asigi Andiba Pamela Asigi Andiba, 27, is a senior reporter for Nation Broadcasting, one of Kenya’s new private, television networks. She has worked there since shortly after it went on the air in 1999. Andiba covers science, medicine and the environment. Her medical coverage focuses on AIDS, which kills 700 Kenyans per day. Her environment stories have been cited by government leaders as bringing major, neglected problems to the fore. She has also reported on such topics as climate change, wildlife conservation and dubious practices in marketing drugs. Andiba has a degree in journalism from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication. During her fellowship year, she plans to study AIDS vaccine research, biotechnology and environmental and health sciences. She lists her outside activities as cooking, watching TV and surfing the Internet.
Ruth Helena Bellinghini Ruth Helena Bellinghini, 43, is a science reporter and assistant editor for O Estado de S. Paulo, Brazil’s second largest daily newspaper. A veteran of 12 years at the paper, she now focuses mainly on the life sciences, including cell and molecular biology and the implications of genetics and genomics for the Brazilian people. The country is in the midst of a major push to develop and apply new genetic technologies. In 2001 Bellinghini won a fellowship to attend the Knight Fellowship’s weeklong "Genes & Cells Boot Camp." She has a graduate degree in journalism from the Universidade Paulista. While on campus, Bellinghini plans to study cancer genetics and epigenetics, proteomics and bioinformatics. Her recreational interests include reading, traveling, long walks and cats.
Chen May Yee Chen May Yee, 32 and born in Malaysia, was a reporter for The Asian Wall Street Journal for five years when she left to work on a book about her great-grandfather’s migration from China to Malaysia to start a pewter factory. Her most recent posting for the newspaper was in Singapore, where she covered information technology in the region. Chen has a bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology from Bristol University in Britain and a master’s from Columbia University’s journalism school. During her year on campus, Chen will prepare herself to return to journalism as a health and environment reporter. Accordingly, she plans to take courses relevant to health and environmental issues in Asia. Her extracurricular interests include hiking, rock climbing and travel.
Alessandro Greco Alessandro Greco, 30, was a science writer for a popular Brazilian Web site, "News and Opinion," until the site suspended publication in mid-2002. He is also the author of Homens de Ciencia, a collection of interviews he conducted with 26 leading scientists, including Charles Townes, Francis Crick, Hans Bethe, Gerald Edelman, Ilya Prigogine, Murray Gell-Mann and Steven Weinberg, introducing many of them to Brazilian readers. Previously he wrote for the Brazilian business and financial daily, Gazeta Mercantil. Greco has a degree in mechanical engineering from the Escola Politecnica at Sao Paulo University. At MIT, Greco plans to delve into brain and cognitive sciences, hoping to understand what is known about the relationship between brain and mind. His outside interests include reading, traveling, soccer and handball.
Trisha Gura Trisha Gura, 38, is a fulltime freelance science writer, chiefly for Science, Nature, New Scientist and, for a change of pace, Good Housekeeping. With a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Northwestern, she focuses on biology from molecules to medicine. For two years she was a science and medical writer for the Chicago Tribune, having gone to the paper as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow. Before that, she spent two years directing a hospital laboratory that studied heart valve failures in children. At MIT, Gura is planning to study technology as it affects biology, specifically bioinformatics, neurobiology, imaging, computer science and systems analysis. Other interests include swimming, cycling, vegetarian cooking, yoga, community agriculture, music, reading and Scrabble.
Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz, 33, is culture editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, an alternative weekly, and author of the syndicated column, "Techsploitation," which she describes as "rants about high tech media and everyday life." She founded the online publication Bad Subjects in 1992. In 1997 she co-edited White Trash: Race and Class in America, a small-press best seller. With a 1998 Ph.D. in English and American studies from the University of California, Berkeley, Newitz taught briefly at Berkeley and then switched to writing full time. Most recently she has written for such publications as Wired, Salon.com, Security Focus online and The Industry Standard. At MIT, she hopes to learn more about the social impact of computer networks, artificial intelligence and bioinformatics. She lists her outside interests as "reading, B movies, playing with UNIX, running and hiking."
David Paterson David Paterson, 61, has produced numerous science and medical documentaries over 30-years for the BBC, the UK's Channel Four, WGBH, National Geographic, Discovery and Japan's NHK network. At BBC he was on the team that made Jacob Bronowski’s landmark television series, "The Ascent of Man." For 12 years Paterson was an executive producer in BBC TV’s Science and Features Department. One of his BBC films was made with Richard Feynman. Formerly a staff writer for The Yorkshire Post and New Scientist, he has also published four books, two of them on genetics. He was also executive producer of three of the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lecture Series, featuring Walter Bodmer, Lewis Wolpert and Richard Dawkins. At MIT, Paterson wants to study cell biology, astronomy, earth science and jurisprudence. His other interests include biking, music and gardening.
Adam Rogers Adam Rogers, 31, is a general editor for Newsweek. His stories, on subjects such as cosmology and digital technology appear mainly in the magazine’s science and technology section. He has also freelanced for New Scientist, Wired and Smithsonian. Rogers, who has a masters in science journalism from B.U., began at Newsweek in 1994, writing about computers and the dot-com pheomenon for the Cyberscope section. At the magazine he has written stories on a variety of topics, including neurobiology, spacecraft landings on Mars, Bose-Einstein condensates, genomics, energy policy and biological warfare. During his year on campus Rogers plans to investigate effects of the built environment on human physical and psychological health. Among his extracurricular interests are comic books, travel and restaurants.
Lauren Slater Lauren Slater, 39, is a freelance journalist and author specializing in psychology. She is the author of the acclaimed Prozac Diary, a 1998 memoir of her struggle with mental illness. Her 2000 book Lying has won numerous awards. Her writings were selected for the anthology Best American Essays in 1994 and 1997. With a Brandeis bachelor’s degree in British and American literature, a masters in psychology from Harvard and a doctorate in psychology from B.U., Slater practiced clinical psychology for 11 years before writing fulltime. During her fellowship year, Slater plans to study neuropsychology, the future of psychiatric care and treatment, medical ethics and the future of medical technologies. Her outside interests include furniture "rehabbing and refinishing," carpentry and decoupage.
Clive Thompson Clive Thompson, 34, is a Canadian freelance writer and producer, based in Brooklyn. He writes extensively on digital technologies and their social impact. He is a columnist for Canada's Report on Business magazine and editor at large for Shift magazine, and a frequent commentator on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Over the past year, Thompson's articles and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Lingua Franca, Wired, Shift, Entertainment Weekly and several other publications. At the University of Toronto he majored in political science and English. At MIT, Thompson expects to study artificial intelligence, the changing nature of property in the digital age and memory. Other interests include video games, poetry, origami, politics and playing guitar.