URI receives $500K grant to improve science scholar writing

NEDRA REYNOLDS, LEFT, AND INGRID LOFGREN are part of a team of University of Rhode Island scholars that has won a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the writing skills of graduate students in the sciences. Lofgren is the lead principal investigator of the project. / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
NEDRA REYNOLDS, LEFT, AND INGRID LOFGREN are part of a team of University of Rhode Island scholars that has won a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the writing skills of graduate students in the sciences. Lofgren is the lead principal investigator of the project. / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island has received a competitive grant from the National Science Foundation to improve the writing skills of graduate students of science.
The $500,000 grant will provide courses in science writing, instructing emerging scientists how to convey their thoughts in a clear and engaging manner. The writing can be applied to grant applications as well as research papers.
“URI is leading the way to help science students become better writers, and that’s crucial in today’s swiftly changing world,” said Nedra Reynolds, a professor of writing and rhetoric who helped write the grant application.
The grant, “Science Writing and Rhetorical Training: a New Model for Developing Graduate Science Writers” was a combined effort of faculty in the Harrington School of Communication and Media and the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.
As a result, professors from both departments will teach courses and run workshop intended to strengthen writing skills.
Ingrid Lofgren, an associate professor and graduate coordinator in the department of nutrition and food sciences, is the lead principal investigator. In addition to Reynolds, co-principal investigators are: Caroline Gottschalk Druschke, an assistant professor of writing and rhetoric; Scott McWilliams, a professor of wildlife ecology and physiology; and Nancy Karraker, an assistant professor of wetland ecology and herpetology.

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