February 15, 2010 - I skated on the canal this weekend: It was slick, not too cold, and packed with people enjoying Winterlude in Ottawa (and Family Day in Ontario.) I even saw a guy in a car from Wisconsin with a dog on his lap and a map…Amazing how old-fashioned technology and a good friend can still get you where you want to go.

Ottawa, when the snow is gone and the canal is once again a waterway, is equally fascinating.

You should be here.

The 2010 CSWA conference happens June 5-8 and I don’t want you to miss it. The program committee is beavering away at a singular task: to make this the most interesting, important and versatile meeting for science communicators, ALL OF US, in Canada.

The CSWA Science in Society Awards will be presented at the opening gala at the wonderful Railway Room in the Canada Museum of Science and Technology.

This year we have scaled down the entry categories. We are awarding one prize only in print, radio and television as well as two book awards (youth under 16 and adult).

The Herb Lambert Emerging Science Journalist Award - formerly the Herb Lampert Student Writing Award - is open to students and newly minted-science writers of all ages.

Simply the best. The awards are open now: Apply here

Entries for the CSWA Book Awards - which many folks associate with the Science in Society awards - are closed. Having received many entries, judging is now underway.

We already have one award for Lifetime Achievement, a first, and that goes to Joan Hollobon for her dedication to medical science journalism and her tireless efforts to make the CSWA a reality.

She will tell you that many other people did as much or more than she did, but she did it at a time when female reporters always had to prove themselves not only for their skills but for their moxie, and she did.

UP NEXT: Some of my students and I are heading to the annual AAAS meeting in San Diego. Stay tuned for links to our tweets from that conference.

Kathryn O'Hara
CSWA President