Faculty

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Director, Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science

Elizabeth Bass is interim director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and is in charge of the School of Journalism’s new master’s program, which focuses on coverage of health, science, the environment and technology. Continue reading →

Visiting Professor

Alan Alda, actor, director and writer, has had a lifelong interest in science. He hosted PBS’ Scientific American Frontiers from 1993 to 2005, an experience he has called “the best thing I ever did in front of a camera.” Continue reading →

Rick Firstman is a journalist, author and teacher who leads workshops in Distilling Your Message for the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. Continue reading →

Eugene Hammond served as a nuclear engineer in the US Navy, and has degrees in English from Notre Dame, Oxford University, and Yale University. He works with the AACCS teaching courses and workshops in Writing Science for the Public. Continue reading →

Evonne Kaplan-Liss, M.D., M.P.H., is a member of the steering committee of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and director of the Advanced Certificate in Health Communications, a joint program of Stony Brook’s Graduate Program in Public Health and School of Journalism. Continue reading →

Valeri Lantz-Gefroh joins the School of Journalism as both an improvisation teacher and an administrator for the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. Continue reading →

Steve Marsh is an actor and dramaturg who teaches both subjects at Stony Brook University’s department of Theatre Arts. He received a BFA in Acting at NYU in 1981 and an MFA at the State University of New York in Dramaturgy in 1999. Continue reading →

Deborah Mayo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Stony Brook University and now teaches Improvisation for Scientists at the school’s Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. Continue reading →

Associate Dean, School of Journalism

Marcy McGinnis is associate dean of the School of Journalism and director of its broadcast journalism program. She came to Stony Brook in 2006 after a career at CBS News that spanned more than three decades. Continue reading →

Christie Nicholson is an Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science workshop instructor at Stony Brook University. Continue reading →

Steven Reiner, an associate professor of broadcast journalism at Stony Brook, spent two decades as a senior producer, producer and director at CBS News, covering many of the major news events of the last two decades.Working with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, he has led workshops in Distilling Your Message and Dealing with the Media for scientists, health professionals and science students. Continue reading →

As the founding president of the Blue Ocean Institute, Dr. Safina is a leading science communicator. His six books have been praised for their vision, lyrical writing, sense of adventure and wealth of information. Continue reading →

Founding Dean, School of Journalism

Howard Schneider, the founding dean of the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University, developed the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and co-chairs its steering committee. Continue reading →

Barbara Selvin, MS, is an assistant professor of journalism at Stony Brook who has led workshops for scientists in Distilling Your Message at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Continue reading →

Tim Miller is a communications expert specializing in the field of scientific and technical communication. He has lectured at museums, universities, and government agencies from coast to coast. Continue reading →