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{{Short description|American science writer}}
{{About|the author|the fashion designer|Jennifer Ouellette (milliner)}}
{{About|the author|the fashion designer|Jennifer Ouellette (milliner)}}
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{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. -->
{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. -->
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| birth_place = [[Ashland, Wisconsin]]
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'''Jennifer Ouellette''' (born May 17, 1964) is a science writer based in Los Angeles, California. Her writings are aimed at mainstream audiences unfamiliar with complex scientific issues.
'''Jennifer Ouellette''' is an American science writer and editor.


==Life and career==
==Career==
⚫
[[File:Jennifer Ouellette Freethought 2018 speaking.jpg|thumb|8th Freethought Alliance Conference in 2018.]]
Ouellette is the former director of the [[Science & Entertainment Exchange]], an initiative of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] (NAS) designed to connect entertainment industry professionals with top scientists and engineers to help the creators of television shows, films, video games, and other productions incorporate science into their work.<ref name=NAS>{{cite web|title=NAS Announces Initiative to Connect Entertainment Industry With Top Experts|url=http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11192008|publisher=The National Academies|accessdate=4 June 2012}}</ref> "The National Academy is hoping to basically foster this current trend in television and get more interactions between science and Hollywood, in the hopes of changing the way science and scientists are portrayed."<ref name=skepticzone>{{cite web|last1=Richard|first1=Saunders|authorlink=Richard Saunders (skeptic)|title=Jennifer Ouellette Interview|url=http://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the_skeptic_zone_35_19_june_2009|accessdate=26 June 2014}}</ref>
"We want Hollywood to basically help us inspire people and to get them interested in science and in rationalism so that they then go on to read more and become more educated."<ref name=skepticzone/>


Ouellette's website describes her as a "recovering English major who stumbled into science writing quite by accident as a struggling freelance writer in New York City."<ref name="Encyclopedia.com 2024">{{cite web |title=Ouellette, Jennifer |department=Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/ouellette-jennifer-0 |website=[[Encyclopedia.com]] |date=12 Sep 2024 |access-date=26 Sep 2024}}</ref> According to her husband, physicist [[Sean M. Carroll]], Ouellette was hired by the [[American Physical Society]] "after they found out that it was easier to teach physics to people who knew how to write than to teach writing to people who knew physics."<ref>{{cite web |title=MTS: Meet Sean Carroll |website=Meet The Skeptics! |date=4 December 2012 |url=http://meettheskeptics.libsyn.com/mts-meet-sean-carroll |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229221044/http://meettheskeptics.libsyn.com/mts-meet-sean-carroll |archive-date=29 December 2014 |url-status=dead |type=video}}{{self-published inline|date=September 2024|certain=yes}}</ref>
⚫
She also served as Journalist in Residence at the [[Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics]] in 2008<ref name=KITP>{{cite web|title=Jennifer Ouellette |url=http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/journalist_in_residence/jennifer-ouellette |publisher=UC Santa Barbara, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics |accessdate=10 June 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102004715/http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/journalist_in_residence/jennifer-ouellette |archivedate= 2 November 2012 |df= }}</ref> and worked in New Mexico with the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop as an instructor in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop |url=http://www.sciwrite.org/sciwrite/sciwrite.html |accessdate=10 June 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608085404/http://sciwrite.org/sciwrite/sciwrite.html |archivedate= 8 June 2012 |df= }}</ref>


Ouellette was the founding director of the [[Science & Entertainment Exchange]],{{r|Ars Technica}} an initiative of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] (NAS) designed to connect entertainment industry professionals with top scientists and engineers to help the creators of television shows, films, video games, and other productions incorporate science into their work.<ref name="O'Leary 2008">{{cite press release |last1=O'Leary |first1=Maureen |title=NAS announces initiative to connect entertainment industry with top experts |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/505957 |access-date=26 September 2024 |work=EurekAlert! |date=19 November 2008}}</ref>
⚫
From 1995 until 2004 she was a contributing editor of ''The Industrial Physicist'' magazine, published by the [[American Institute of Physics]].<ref name=TIP>{{cite web|title=Features Index |url=http://www.tipmagazine.com/features.html |work=The Industrial Physicist |publisher=American Institute of Physics |accessdate=17 June 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202143843/http://www.tipmagazine.com/features.html |archivedate= 2 February 2012 |df= }}</ref> On the Meet the Skeptics! podcast Ouellette's husband, physicist [[Sean M. Carroll|Sean Carroll]], said "She was an English major with no science background whatsoever...while working as a freelance journalist in New York City she was hired by the American Physical Society after they found out that it was easier to teach physics to people who knew how to write than to teach writing to people who knew physics."<ref>{{cite web|title=Meet Sean Carroll|url=http://meettheskeptics.libsyn.com/mts-meet-sean-carroll|accessdate=7 January 2014}}</ref> She is currently a freelance writer contributing to a [[physics outreach]] dialogue with articles in a variety of publications such as [[Physics World]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ouellette|first=Jennifer|title=The Scholar and the Caliph|journal=Physics World|date=January 2011|pages=21–24|url=http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/2011/jan/05/the-scholar-and-the-caliph|accessdate=5 January 2011}}</ref> [[Discover magazine]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ouellette|first=Jennifer|title=Big Game Theory|journal=Discover|date=November 2010|pages=58–62|url=http://discover.coverleaf.com/discovermagazine/201011?folio=58&pg60#pg60|accessdate=1 July 2012}}</ref> [[New Scientist]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ouellette|first=Jennifer|title=Mechanical mysteries of the yodel|journal=New Scientist|date=30 December 2007|issue=2635|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19626352.300|accessdate=1 July 2012}}</ref> [[Physics Today]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ouellette|first=Jennifer|title=Femtosecond Lasers Prepare to Break Out of the Laboratory|journal=Physics Today|date=January 2008|volume=61|issue=1|pages=36|url=http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v61/i1/p36_s1?isAuthorized=no|accessdate=1 July 2012|doi=10.1063/1.2835147}}</ref> and [[The Wall Street Journal]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Ouellette|first=Jennifer|title=Going With the Flow|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703720504575377123375671294|accessdate=1 July 2012|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=July 23, 2010}}</ref>


{{blockquote|The National Academy is hoping to basically foster this current trend in television and get more interactions between science and Hollywood, in the hopes of changing the way science and scientists are portrayed. [...] We want Hollywood to basically help us inspire people and to get them interested in science and in rationalism so that they then go on to read more and become more educated.<ref name="Saunders 2009">{{cite web |last1=Saunders |first1=Richard |last2=Sojka |first2=Stefan |title=The Skeptic Zone #35 - 19.June.2009 |url=https://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the_skeptic_zone_35_19_june_2009 |website=The Skeptic Zone |date=Jun 19, 2009 |type=podcast}}{{self-published inline|date=September 2024|certain=yes}}</ref>}}
⚫
Ouellette also participates in a variety of print and online interviews such as [[NPR]]'s [[Science Friday]], [[SETI]] radio with [[Seth Shostak]], and panel discussions at [[The Amaz!ng Meeting]],<ref name=TAM>{{cite web|title=The Amaz!ng Meeting 7 Speakers|url=http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/component/content/article/37-static/448-the-amazing-meeting-7-speakers.html|publisher=[[James Randi Educational Foundation]]|accessdate=10 June 2012}}</ref> [[Dragon Con]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Dragon*Con Biography - Jennifer Ouellette |url=http://dragoncon.org/dc_guest_detail.php?id=2192 |accessdate=10 June 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004010653/http://dragoncon.org/dc_guest_detail.php?id=2192 |archivedate= 4 October 2010 |df= }}</ref> [[Center for Inquiry]], and the [[National Association of Science Writers]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Sunshine|first=Wendy Lyons|title=What's science got to do with it? Thinking outside the lab|url=http://www.nasw.org/whats-science-got-do-it-thinking-outside-lab|publisher=The National Association of Science Writers|accessdate=10 June 2012}}</ref> She appeared on [[Nova (TV series)|NOVA]] in 2008 and on [[The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson]] on February 11, 2011 discussing her book ''The Calculus Diaries'' and winning a coveted Golden Mouth Organ.<ref name=Craig>{{cite web|title=Jennifer Ouelette 2011.02.11 - Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWycEo2J4HA|accessdate=10 June 2012}}</ref> She also has a blog, "Cocktail Party Physics: Physics with a twist" where she and other female contributors chat about the latest science news. "You just tell entertaining stories and weave the science in and it’s a way of getting people familiar and interested in what is normally kind of a scary subject for them."<ref name=skepticzone/>


⚫
She also served as a Journalist in Residence at the [[Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics]] in 2008<ref name="Kavli Institute">{{cite web |title=Jennifer Ouellette |url=http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/journalist_in_residence/jennifer-ouellette |publisher=UC Santa Barbara; Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102004715/http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/journalist_in_residence/jennifer-ouellette |archive-date=2 November 2012}}</ref> and worked in New Mexico with the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop as an instructor in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop |url=http://www.sciwrite.org/sciwrite/sciwrite.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608085404/http://sciwrite.org/sciwrite/sciwrite.html |archive-date=8 June 2012}}</ref>
September 2015, Ouellette announced a new role as Senior Science Editor for [[Gizmodo]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ouellette|first1=Jennifer|title=Bidding a Fond Farewell|url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/bidding-a-fond-farewell/|website=Cocktail Party Physics|accessdate=1 September 2015}}</ref>


⚫
From 1995 until 2004, Ouellette was a contributing editor of ''The Industrial Physicist'' magazine, published by the [[American Institute of Physics]].<ref name="Industrial Physicist">{{cite web |title=Features Index |url=http://www.tipmagazine.com/features.html |work=The Industrial Physicist |publisher=American Institute of Physics |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202143843/http://www.tipmagazine.com/features.html |archive-date=2 February 2012}}</ref>{{Nonspecific|date=September 2024}} She is currently{{When|date=September 2024}} a freelance writer contributing to a [[physics outreach]] dialogue with articles in a variety of publications such as [[Physics World]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |title=The Scholar and the Caliph |journal=Physics World |date=5 January 2011 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=21–24 |doi=10.1088/2058-7058/24/01/31 |bibcode=2011PhyW...24a..21O |url=https://physicsworld.com/a/the-scholar-and-the-caliph/ |access-date=26 Sep 2024}}</ref> [[Discover magazine]],<ref name="Ouellette 2010">{{cite magazine |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |title=Big Game Theory |magazine=Discover |date=November 2010 |pages=58–62 |issn=0274-7529 |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/one-of-the-great-frontiers-for-modern-physicists-poker |access-date=26 Sep 2024 |url-access=limited}}</ref> [[New Scientist]],<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |title=Mechanical mysteries of the yodel |magazine=New Scientist |date=30 December 2007 |issue=2635 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19626352.300 |access-date=1 July 2012}}</ref> [[Physics Today]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |title=Femtosecond Lasers Prepare to Break Out of the Laboratory |journal=Physics Today |date=January 2008 |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=36–38 |doi=10.1063/1.2835147 |bibcode=2008PhT....61a..36O}}</ref> [[The Wall Street Journal]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |title=Going With the Flow |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703720504575377123375671294 |access-date=26 Sep 2024 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=July 23, 2010 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and [[Quanta Magazine]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/tensor-networks-and-entanglement-20150428/ |title=Tensor Networks and Entanglement |website=Quanta Magazine |date=April 28, 2015 |access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref>
August 2018, Ouellette announced a new role as a contributor for [[Arstechnica]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ouellette|first1=Jennifer|title=Bidding a Fond Farewell|url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/bidding-a-fond-farewell/|website=Cocktail Party Physics|accessdate=1 September 2015}}</ref>


⚫
Ouellette has given interviews to NPR's [[Science Friday]] and SETI's [[Seth Shostak]], and appeared in panel discussions at [[The Amaz!ng Meeting]],<ref name="JREF 2009">{{cite web |title=The Amaz!ng Meeting 7 Speakers |url=https://archive.randi.org/site/index.php/component/content/article/37-static/448-the-amazing-meeting-7-speakers.html |publisher=James Randi Educational Foundation |access-date=26 September 2024 |date=24 February 2009}}</ref> [[Dragon Con]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Guests {{!}} Jennifer Ouellette |website=Dragoncon.org |url=http://dragoncon.org/dc_guest_detail.php?id=2192 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004010653/http://dragoncon.org/dc_guest_detail.php?id=2192 |archive-date=4 October 2010}}</ref> [[Center for Inquiry]], and the [[National Association of Science Writers]].<ref name="Sunshine">{{cite news |last1=Sunshine |first1=Wendy Lyons |title=What's science got to do with it? Thinking outside the lab |url=https://www.nasw.org/article/whats-science-got-do-it-thinking-outside-lab |access-date=26 September 2024 |publisher=National Association of Science Writers |date=n.d. |location=Berkeley, Calif.}}</ref> She appeared on [[Nova (American TV series)|NOVA]] in 2008 and on [[The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson]] in 2011 to discuss her book ''The Calculus Diaries'' and winning a coveted Golden Mouth Organ.<ref name="Late Late Show 2011">{{cite episode |number=7-106 |date=11 Feb 2011 |series=The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |network=CBS}}</ref>
⚫
[[File:Jennifer Ouellette Freethought 2018 speaking.jpg|thumb|8th Freethought Alliance Conference in 2018]]


Until September 2015, she wrote a blog for ''[[Scientific American]]'' titled ''Cocktail Party Physics'',{{r|Ouellette 2015}} where she and other female contributors chatted about the latest science news: "You just tell entertaining stories and weave the science in and it’s a way of getting people familiar and interested in what is normally kind of a scary subject for them."<ref name="Saunders 2009"/> In 2015, Ouellette became senior science editor at ''[[Gizmodo]]''.<ref name="Ouellette 2015">{{cite web |last1=Ouellette |first1=Jennifer |title=Bidding a Fond Farewell |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/cocktail-party-physics/bidding-a-fond-farewell/ |access-date=26 Sep 2024 |work=Cocktail Party Physics |publisher=Scientific American Blog Network |date=1 September 2015 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
In 2018, she joined ''[[Ars Technica]]'' as a contributor.<ref name="Timmer 2018">{{cite news |last1=Timmer |first1=John |title=Please join us in welcoming Ars' newest contributor, Jennifer Ouellette |url=https://arstechnica.com/staff/2018/08/please-join-us-in-welcoming-ars-newest-contributor-jennifer-ouellette/ |access-date=26 September 2024 |work=Ars Technica |date=16 August 2018}}</ref> {{As of|2024}} she is a senior writer for the site.<ref name="Ars Technica">{{cite web |title=Jennifer Ouellette / Senior Writer |url=https://arstechnica.com/author/jenniferouellette/ |website=Ars Technica |access-date=26 September 2024}}</ref>


She is a member of the [[Authors Guild]] and the [[National Association of Science Writers]].{{r|Encyclopedia.com 2024}}
⚫
==Books==

⚫
* {{cite book | author = Jennifer Ouellette | authormask = 1 | title = Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | location = New York, NY | date = 2005 | ISBN = 978-0143036036 }}
==Awards==
⚫
* {{cite book | author = Jennifer Ouellette | authormask = 1 | title = The Physics of the [[Buffyverse]] | others = illustrated by Paul Dlugokencky | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | location = New York, NY | date = 2006 | ISBN = 0143038621 }}
* Science writing award, [[Acoustical Society of America]]{{r|Encyclopedia.com 2024}}
⚫
* {{cite book | author = Jennifer Ouellette | authormask = 1 | title = The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | date = 2010 | ISBN = 978-0143117377 }}
* [[American Humanist Association#AHA's Humanists of the Year|Humanist of the Year]], American Humanist Association (AHA), 2018<ref>{{Cite press release |last=Couch |first=Amy |url=https://americanhumanist.org/press-releases/aha-announces-2018-humanist-year/ |title=AHA Announces the 2018 Humanist of the Year |date=2018-03-30 |publisher=American Humanist Association |language=en-US |access-date=26 Sep 2024}}</ref>
⚫
* {{cite book | author = Jennifer Ouellette | authormask = 1 | title = The Best Science Writing Online 2012 | contribution = Introduction | editor-first = Bora | editor-last = Zivkovic | publisher = Scientific American; [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] | location = New York, NY | date = 2012 | ISBN = 978-0374533342 | oclc = 824733257 }}

⚫
* {{cite book | author = Jennifer Ouellette | authormask = 1 | title = Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | location = New York, NY | date = 2014 | ISBN = 978-0143121657 }}
⚫
== Books ==
⚫
* {{cite book |author=Jennifer Ouellette <!--|author-mask=4--> |title=Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics |url=https://archive.org/details/blackbodiesquant00ouel |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=New York |date=2005 |isbn=978-0143036036}}
⚫
* {{cite book |author=Jennifer Ouellette |author-mask=4 |title=The Physics of the Buffyverse |url=https://archive.org/details/physicsofbuffyve00ouel |url-access=registration |others=illustrated by Paul Dlugokencky |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=New York |date=2006 |isbn=0143038621}}
⚫
* {{cite book |author=Jennifer Ouellette |author-mask=4 |title=The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |date=2010 |isbn=978-0143117377}}
⚫
* {{cite book |author=Jennifer Ouellette |author-mask=4 |title=The Best Science Writing Online 2012 |contribution=Introduction |editor-first=Bora |editor-last=Zivkovic |publisher=Scientific American; [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] |location=New York |date=2012 |isbn=978-0374533342 |oclc=824733257 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bestsciencewriti0000unse}}
⚫
* {{cite book |author=Jennifer Ouellette |author-mask=4 |title=Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=New York |date=2014 |isbn=978-0143121657}}

==Personal life==
Ouellette holds a black belt in [[jiu jitsu]].{{r|Encyclopedia.com 2024}} She is married to physicist [[Sean M. Carroll]].<ref name="Ouellette 2012">{{cite book |last1=Ouellette |first1=Jennifer |title=The Calculus Diaries: A Year Discovering How Maths Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse |date=2012 |publisher=Duckworth Overlook |location=London |isbn=978-0-7156-4513-0 |page=ii |url=https://archive.org/details/calculusdiariesh0000ouel/page/n1/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater |url-access=registration}}</ref> They live in [[Baltimore, Maryland]].{{r|Ars Technica}}

Accepting her Humanist of the Year award at the AHA's 2018 conference, Oullette spoke of her brother's struggle with and death from [[cancer]], saying medical professionals should not "hide behind euphemisms and platitudes" that hinder end of life decision making, and about patients' need for frankness and honesty about their [[prognosis]].<ref name="Oullette 2018"/> She spoke about the suffering due to the limitations of the medical profession's current understanding of [[pain management]] and the need for research, and about her support for [[right-to-die]] legislation.<ref name="Oullette 2018">{{Cite magazine |url=https://thehumanist.com/magazine/november-december-2018/features/the-ending-needs-work |title=The Ending Needs Work: Humanists Can Lead on End-of-Life Decisions |date=2018-10-23 |magazine=The Humanist |language=en-US |access-date=26 Sep 2024 |last=Oullette |first=Jennifer |publisher=American Humanist Association |location=Washington, D.C. |volume=78 |issue=6 |pages=12–15 |issn=0018-7399}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|2}}


==External links==
==External links==
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* {{Official website|http://www.jenniferouellette-writes.com}}
* {{Official website|http://www.jenniferouellette-writes.com}}
* {{IMDb name|id=4431313|name=Jennifer Ouellette}}
* {{IMDb name|id=4431313|name=Jennifer Ouellette}}
* [https://twistedphysics.typepad.com/ Cocktail Party Physics] via [[Typepad]]
* [http://www.scienceandentertainmentexchange.org Science and Entertainment Exchange website]
* [http://www.scienceandentertainmentexchange.org Science and Entertainment Exchange website]


{{authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouellette, Jennifer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouellette, Jennifer}}
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[[Category:American science writers]]
[[Category:American science writers]]
[[Category:American magazine editors]]
[[Category:American magazine editors]]
[[Category:American women magazine editors]]
[[Category:American skeptics]]
[[Category:American skeptics]]
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Latest revision as of 15:07, 18 December 2024

This article is about the author. For the fashion designer, see Jennifer Ouellette (milliner).

Jennifer Ouellette
Jennifer Ouellette in July, 2012
Jennifer Ouellette in July, 2012
OccupationWriter and editor
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationBA English, Seattle Pacific University, 1985
Spouse
​
(m. 2007)​
Website
www.jenniferouellette-writes.com[1]

Jennifer Ouellette is an American science writer and editor.

Career

[edit]
8th Freethought Alliance Conference in 2018.

Ouellette's website describes her as a "recovering English major who stumbled into science writing quite by accident as a struggling freelance writer in New York City."[1] According to her husband, physicist Sean M. Carroll, Ouellette was hired by the American Physical Society "after they found out that it was easier to teach physics to people who knew how to write than to teach writing to people who knew physics."[2]

Ouellette was the founding director of the Science & Entertainment Exchange,[3] an initiative of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) designed to connect entertainment industry professionals with top scientists and engineers to help the creators of television shows, films, video games, and other productions incorporate science into their work.[4]

The National Academy is hoping to basically foster this current trend in television and get more interactions between science and Hollywood, in the hopes of changing the way science and scientists are portrayed. [...] We want Hollywood to basically help us inspire people and to get them interested in science and in rationalism so that they then go on to read more and become more educated.[5]

She also served as a Journalist in Residence at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in 2008[6] and worked in New Mexico with the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop as an instructor in 2009.[7]

From 1995 until 2004, Ouellette was a contributing editor of The Industrial Physicist magazine, published by the American Institute of Physics.[8][not specific enough to verify] She is currently[when?] a freelance writer contributing to a physics outreach dialogue with articles in a variety of publications such as Physics World,[9] Discover magazine,[10] New Scientist,[11] Physics Today,[12] The Wall Street Journal.[13] and Quanta Magazine[14]

Ouellette has given interviews to NPR's Science Friday and SETI's Seth Shostak, and appeared in panel discussions at The Amaz!ng Meeting,[15] Dragon Con,[16] Center for Inquiry, and the National Association of Science Writers.[17] She appeared on NOVA in 2008 and on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2011 to discuss her book The Calculus Diaries and winning a coveted Golden Mouth Organ.[18]

Until September 2015, she wrote a blog for Scientific American titled Cocktail Party Physics,[19] where she and other female contributors chatted about the latest science news: "You just tell entertaining stories and weave the science in and it’s a way of getting people familiar and interested in what is normally kind of a scary subject for them."[5] In 2015, Ouellette became senior science editor at Gizmodo.[19] In 2018, she joined Ars Technica as a contributor.[20] As of 2024 she is a senior writer for the site.[3]

She is a member of the Authors Guild and the National Association of Science Writers.[1]

Awards

[edit]

Books

[edit]
  • Jennifer Ouellette (2005). Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0143036036.
  • ———— (2006). The Physics of the Buffyverse. illustrated by Paul Dlugokencky. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0143038621.
  • ———— (2010). The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0143117377.
  • ———— (2012). "Introduction". In Zivkovic, Bora (ed.). The Best Science Writing Online 2012. New York: Scientific American; Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0374533342. OCLC 824733257.
  • ———— (2014). Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0143121657.

Personal life

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Ouellette holds a black belt in jiu jitsu.[1] She is married to physicist Sean M. Carroll.[22] They live in Baltimore, Maryland.[3]

Accepting her Humanist of the Year award at the AHA's 2018 conference, Oullette spoke of her brother's struggle with and death from cancer, saying medical professionals should not "hide behind euphemisms and platitudes" that hinder end of life decision making, and about patients' need for frankness and honesty about their prognosis.[23] She spoke about the suffering due to the limitations of the medical profession's current understanding of pain management and the need for research, and about her support for right-to-die legislation.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Ouellette, Jennifer". Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Encyclopedia.com. September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  2. ^ "MTS: Meet Sean Carroll". Meet The Skeptics! (video). December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014.[self-published source]
  3. ^ a b c "Jennifer Ouellette / Senior Writer". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  4. ^ O'Leary, Maureen (November 19, 2008). "NAS announces initiative to connect entertainment industry with top experts". EurekAlert! (Press release). Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Saunders, Richard; Sojka, Stefan (June 19, 2009). "The Skeptic Zone #35 - 19.June.2009". The Skeptic Zone (podcast).[self-published source]
  6. ^ "Jennifer Ouellette". UC Santa Barbara; Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012.
  7. ^ "Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop". Archived from the original on June 8, 2012.
  8. ^ "Features Index". The Industrial Physicist. American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012.
  9. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (January 5, 2011). "The Scholar and the Caliph". Physics World. 24 (1): 21–24. Bibcode:2011PhyW...24a..21O. doi:10.1088/2058-7058/24/01/31. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  10. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (November 2010). "Big Game Theory". Discover. pp. 58–62. ISSN 0274-7529. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  11. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (December 30, 2007). "Mechanical mysteries of the yodel". New Scientist. No. 2635. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  12. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (January 2008). "Femtosecond Lasers Prepare to Break Out of the Laboratory". Physics Today. 61 (1): 36–38. Bibcode:2008PhT....61a..36O. doi:10.1063/1.2835147.
  13. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (July 23, 2010). "Going With the Flow". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  14. ^ "Tensor Networks and Entanglement". Quanta Magazine. April 28, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  15. ^ "The Amaz!ng Meeting 7 Speakers". James Randi Educational Foundation. February 24, 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  16. ^ "Guests | Jennifer Ouellette". Dragoncon.org. Archived from the original on October 4, 2010.
  17. ^ Sunshine, Wendy Lyons (n.d.). "What's science got to do with it? Thinking outside the lab". Berkeley, Calif.: National Association of Science Writers. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  18. ^ The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Episode 7–106. February 11, 2011. CBS.
  19. ^ a b Ouellette, Jennifer (September 1, 2015). "Bidding a Fond Farewell". Cocktail Party Physics. Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  20. ^ Timmer, John (August 16, 2018). "Please join us in welcoming Ars' newest contributor, Jennifer Ouellette". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  21. ^ Couch, Amy (March 30, 2018). "AHA Announces the 2018 Humanist of the Year" (Press release). American Humanist Association. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  22. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (2012). The Calculus Diaries: A Year Discovering How Maths Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse. London: Duckworth Overlook. p. ii. ISBN 978-0-7156-4513-0.
  23. ^ a b Oullette, Jennifer (October 23, 2018). "The Ending Needs Work: Humanists Can Lead on End-of-Life Decisions". The Humanist. Vol. 78, no. 6. Washington, D.C.: American Humanist Association. pp. 12–15. ISSN 0018-7399. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
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