When Emi Krishnamurthy ’24 and Anagha Aneesh ’24 joined the Haverford community last fall they were both eager to work on the College’s science magazine. They both soon realized there was no such publication. So they created one themselves. Over winter break, Jolt, the school’s first online-only science magazine, was born.
“When you read something exciting and learn something new, you get this sort of jolt of excitement,” said Aneesh. The co-founders hope that readers get that same jolt when reading.
Jolt publishes stories on a wide variety of science topics on their website, such as explaining dark energy to the types of bees on campus. Writers can choose to focus on anything STEM related, from writing about research to explaining timely science news. Aneesh emphasizes that, “science isn’t just trapped in the academic bubble, it spills over into every aspect of everybody’s life.”
Jolt offers multiple volunteer writing and editing positions for students. Staff writers work closely with editors to make both complex science concepts and broad science news easily understandable to the public. Staff writers do not need to to have prior writing or STEM experience, they simply need an interest in STEM and STEM-related topics. Jolt also showcases the work of faculty and student contributing authors, who aren’t part of the regular staff.
There are two types of editors at the publication. Subject editors have a deep understanding of scientific content and help ensure that writing is accurate. General editors aren’t STEM experts, but instead ensure that the writing is understandable to a general audience. These positions allow any interested Ford, regardless of STEM background or journalism experience, to contribute to Jolt and “broaden the scope of journalism at Haverford,” said Aneesh.
“We really do think a lot of misinformation related to science circulated during the pandemic, and college is the starting point about educating yourself and how you consume media, interpret it, and I think that building a space for that at Haverford is pretty valuable,” said Aneesh.
Jolt is open to anyone interested in STEM, journalism, and STEM journalism and meets every Sunday 7:00–8:00 p.m. in Lutnick 202. Interested in writing or editing? Email joltmag.hc@gmail.com or find Jolt on Engage.