Do you have a flare for writing? Are you passionate about social science research? Thanks to support from the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (CSAHS), there is a new opportunity for a student writer to join the Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge (SPARK) [1] program to write solely about CSAHS research! 

This is a paid position, full-time (35 hours/week) in the summer, and part-time (10 hours/week) in the fall and winter.

The successful candidate, housed in the Research Communications unit of the Office of Research (4th Floor, University Centre), will interact with CSAHS researchers in their labs or in the field and write articles for various publications, including commodity magazines, the University of Guelph’s Research Magazine, and At Guelph (University of Guelph website). Some research stories will have broad appeal; others will be tailored to a specific audience.

Since its inception 27 years ago, SPARK has expanded from two participants to 12 participants per year. SPARK has become a niche for helping students learn how to make science understandable to the public, and for fostering a culture that is supportive of research.

SPARK participants have generated miles of print news stories and weeks’ worth of audio and video news stories while being trained in science journalism and developing valuable communications portfolios for themselves. SPARK aims to make participants more employable by equipping them with superior skills in journalistic writing, editing, photography, social communications and videography.

If you are interested, please send a resume and cover letter immediately to SPARK program manager Liz Snyder (lsnyder@uoguelph.ca) [2] by March 10 2017. Senior undergraduate students and graduate students are encouraged to apply.