We will also bring you first-hand accounts of the dramatic
changes sweeping the Arab world. Our vantage point is Qatar, the home of
Al Jazeera whose journalists are leading the reporting on the revolutionary
changes. And we?ll explore what these changes will mean for science in
the Middle East.
Why Doha? At the last conference in 2009 in London, we were proud to
win the conference bid for Cairo. This past January and February 2011,
we were even more proud to be Egyptian, as we joined millions of people
who took to the streets to take control of our destiny. Together we witnessed
and experienced some of the most difficult and some of the most rewarding
times of our lives.
After the first phase of Egypt?s revolution was over with the resignation
of former President Hosni Mubarak, and believe you me this is just the
beginning, we met with our conference partners: NASW (America?s National
Association of Science Writers, the Arab Science Journalists Association
(ASJA), and the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ). We
agreed, with regret, that there were too many uncertainties to hold the
conference in Cairo in June.
So with much appreciated support from the Qatar Foundation, the WCSJ2011
Leading Partner, we have moved the Conference to the beautiful Arabian
Gulf city of Doha.
We have over 180 speakers from all over the world and we will be bringing
100 developing country journalists to Doha.
The speakers include:
-
Ahmed Zewail, Linus Pauling Chair of Chemistry and Professor of Physics,
California Institute of Technology; winner of 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry;
board member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community
Development
-
Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
-
Mariette di Christina, editor-in-chief of Scientific American
-
Mariko Takahashi, science editor at Asahi Shimbun
-
David Dickson, director, SciDev.net
-
Alok Jha, The Guardian (UK)
-
Andrew Jack, The Financial Times
-
Wilson da Silva, editor-in-chief, Cosmos Magazine
-
Shan Juan, China Daily
-
Robert Lee Hotz, The Wall Street Journal
-
Pallab Ghosh, BBC TV News
-
Phil Hilts, MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowships
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Neil Turok, The Perimeter Institute
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Maria Cheng, Associated Press
-
Ivan Oransky, Reuters Health
-
Henry Fountain, The New York Times
-
Elsabe Brits, DieBurger
-
Dominique Leglu, Science et Avenir
-
Mohammed Yahia, Nature Middle East
-
Diran Onifade, Nigerian Television Authority
-
Deborah Cohen, British Medical Journal
-
Chris Mooney, Discover
-
Antonio Regalado, Latin America Contributor, Science Magazine
-
Valeria Roman, Clarin
-
Tom Siegfried, editor-in-chief, Science News
And so many more, all listed at www.wcsj2011.org/program.
We will refine the program over the next few weeks with additional sessions
to suit the exciting revolutionary times in the Arab world, how they have
been affected by social media and what kinds of impacts we expect to see
on science and science journalism.
Our leading sponsor in Doha, the Qatar Foundation, will be pulling together
an exciting list of fieldtrips on June 30 so conference participants can
explore what is happening in terms of research and development in this
rapidly growing country.
You can register now at http://www.wcsj2011.org/user/register
and early bird discounts are available until 12 April. We are currently
working out accommodation and venue details in Doha and will announce those
options soon.
Many organisations have come together to make the conference a success.
They include our lead sponsor: the Qatar Foundation; and our silver partners:
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science and EurekAlert!;
and FAPESP. Our other supporters are listed below.
Be sure to follow @WCSJ2011 on twitter or to ?like? World Conference
of Science Journalists on Facebook. And please email me if you have any
questions or comments.
Kind regards,
Nadia
Nadia El-Awady
President, World Federation of Science Journalists
Co-Director, World Conference of Science Journalists 2011
Cairo, Egypt
Mobile: +20-10-615-2228 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
+20-10-615-2228 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Email: nadia.elawady @ wcsj2011.org
World Conference of Science Journalists 2011 Doha, Qatar
June 27-29, 2011
www.wcsj2011.org
WCSJ2011 Seed Funders
-
Arab Science and Technology Foundation
-
American Association for the Advancement of Science
-
National Association of Science Writers
-
Council for the Advancement of Science Writing
Lead Sponsor
-
Qatar Foundation
-
WCSJ2011 Silver Partners
-
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science and EurekAlert!
-
FAPESP
WCSJ2011 Supporters
-
The World Federation of Science Journalists
-
Wellcome Trust
-
Nature and Nature Middle East
-
Kavli Foundation
-
Research, Development and Innovation Programme
Many other organisations are supporting sessions, speakers and workshops
and a range of sponsorship opportunities are still available.
Further details at http://www.wcsj2011.org/sponsors
