Students across the country are participating in NOVA’s science journalism program to make videos about big data and its applications in their local communities.

We’re excited to announce that we’ve officially kicked off the NOVA Science Studio 2023-2024 program! This year’s NSS cohort includes schools from around the country, in 9 different states with participating educators ranging from science teachers to media and film teachers.

In the 2023-2024 program, NSS students will produce videos that focus on the relationship between big data and its applications and impacts on their local communities ranging from sustainability, privacy, community health, and more. Once again, this year the NSS is part of the NOVA Science and Society project funded by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and the broader theme of big data and data privacy will be the focus of NOVA’s upcoming documentary in May 2024 as well as digital content produced by stations We are excited to see how students will tackle this theme in their stories!

Earlier this fall, NOVA hosted NSS Educator Training on October 17-19 for participating NSS educators. This three-day workshop series covered an overview of the NSS program, a walkthrough of the curriculum, a review of the video production process, and an overview of PBS / NOVA editorial standards.

“We’re super excited to be working with this year’s NSS educators and students. Our goal at NOVA is to get as many people involved and engaged with science because we believe that science is such a powerful tool for understanding the world and solving problems. It is super important for the younger generation to be engaged in science and be empowered to communicate about science. We are eager to see what students do!” says Julia Cort, NOVA co-executive producer. “The one thing that’s consistent across all of NOVA programs are the stories that reveal the process of science. We hope that students will enjoy embodying that process in their own stories.” says Chris Schmidt, NOVA co-executive producer.

Over the course of the program, NOVA will host four virtual student workshops to engage students with science communication professionals and provide additional assistance as they produce their videos. On October 26th, NOVA hosted NSS 2023-2024 Workshop #1: Science Journalist Connection. The workshop featured science journalists, Caitlin Saks and Shantal Riley.

Caitlin Saks, a senior NOVA producer, walked students through how to find characters for a story, what types of shots to film while interviewing, and how to engage with interviewees. Shantal Riley, a freelance environmental reporter, demonstrated how to find data to use in a science story and different methods to visually present data. The next student workshop, NSS 2023-2024 Workshop #2: Digital Editor Connection, will be on November 15th. The workshop will feature Roxanne Scott and Tim De Chant sharing their best practices for storytelling, searching for sources, interviewing, and scripting.

We will be sharing updates about this year’s NOVA Science Studio program and student projects via the NOVA Science Studio newsletter and NOVA Science Studio social media accounts. Follow us on Twitter and YouTube to stay connected!