Community Profiles

Jason Palmer
Knight Science Journalism Fellow '13-14

As a reporter for BBC News, Jason Palmer covers the science and technology beat, with an abiding focus on whatever weirdness the quantum world is manifesting at any given moment.

What drew you to the KSJ Program versus others?
As a former scientist – one who would have loved to be at MIT as a student years ago – there’s simply no better academic destination than MIT, and no better fellowship focused on the particular craft of science journalism.

What impedes the public’s engagement with science?
A predominant obstacle is people’s inclination that since they’re not actively involved in the sciences they won’t understand the material, and consequently, don’t attempt to engage with these topics.

What roles do the media and journalists play in breaking down these obstacles?
I work for as general a news website as they come, but we’re convinced that it’s possible to explain the most complex and cutting-edge science to absolutely anyone willing to listen in or read on. It’s not always easy, but it’s always possible.

What would you like to experience while at MIT?
I’ve already done some of them: Sailing, catching a Red Sox game, getting out to the Cape, and inexpertly and violently getting into a crab. Still to come – a Celtics game, overcoming my fear of large snowdrifts, and catching any or all of the extant amazing bands that formed here.