The EGU Science Journalism Fellowship is an annual competition open to professional journalists wishing to report on ongoing research in the Earth, planetary and space sciences. In this Townhall Meeting, past winners of the EGU Science Journalism Fellowship will present the reporting that they have developed with the help of the EGU and discuss their projects and experience following scientists on location. The panel will also talk about how opportunities like the EGU Science Journalism Fellowship help journalists report on interesting geoscientific research, and develop an understanding of researchers' approaches, findings and motivation, which are then shared with the wider public.

In this Townhall, attendees will be able to pick up skills on how to work with journalists effectively, to help promote their research to a wider audience in an accurate and interesting manner. They will be able to find out how to make the most of collaborations with the media and discover how the personal side of science can be as fascinating as the research itself (journalists are interested in the researchers as well as their findings). The session will highlight the benefits of having a journalist follow scientists on location and has the potential to attract not only scientists who like communicating, but also those who want to promote their research more widely.

Panelists:

*Alexandra Witze, correspondent for the journal Nature and contributing writer for the popular magazine Science News

Witze was one of the winners of the 2011/2012 edition of the EGU Science Journalism Fellowship. She used the support to research her recent book 'Island on Fire: The extraordinary story of Laki, the volcano that turned eighteenth-century Europe dark'. A book sale and signing will follow the Townhall.

*Liz Kalaugher, editor of environmentalresearchweb

Kalaugher was one of the winners of the 2012/2013 edition of the EGU Science Journalism Fellowship. She used the support to report on field work by Miska Luoto and his team from the University of Helsinki at the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in the north of Finland on the effects of climate change on Arctic vegetation.