I must admit that although I’ve been writing about science and scientists for the last seven years, I’ve never actually done science in the lab (other than a few summer stints in a basic microbiology lab). Though having been a scientist is not a requirement for being a science journalist, I think it sometimes helps to know a bit about the lab (I think it can hurt too, but that’s another blog post).

Working for Nature, writing/editing for scientists (as opposed to the general public), I figured it would be useful for me to get some sense for lab life and laboratory techniques. So I applied and was admitted into the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Science Journalism Fellowship program in Woods Hole on the Cape. Starting this Thursday, I, along with 4 or 5 other journalists, will be spending 10 days in the lab, 12 hours a day, pipetting, running gels, using microscopes, even learning some bioinformatics software (and attending talks too). I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll only be a small taste for the lives of the people I cover, but I think it’ll be fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to summer camp.

I’ll be blogging about my adventures (and mishaps) in the lab pretending to be a scientist so stay tuned.