Hello from our new science communicator

By Tom Moran

A bold new era has begun at Alaska Sea Grant.

Okay, that’s incredibly hyperbolic, but there has been a noteworthy change here in the Fairbanks office, as I’ve started work as our new science communicator. I’m taking this opportunity to tell you some more about myself and what I hope to bring to the organization. 

My background is in daily journalism. I grew up outside Boston, got my bachelor’s in English and environmental science at Notre Dame, and worked as a reporter at the Roswell Daily Record newspaper in New Mexico (where my boss’ business card had an alien on it) before decamping to Fairbanks for a job at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. I spent four years at the paper, mainly covering courts and state politics, including traveling to Juneau for a couple of legislative sessions. 

By that time Fairbanks had its hooks in me (it happens!) and I enrolled at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to get a masters in fine arts in creative writing with a focus on drama. While there I was hired as a graduate student assistant at Alaska NSF EPSCoR, where my responsibilities ran the gamut from tacking up flyers around campus to compiling and editing $20 million grant proposals. I stayed on at EPSCoR for 15 productive years, then spent three years freelancing before joining up with Alaska Sea Grant. 

That is to say, I bring some pretty varied experience to the organization. My forte is turning around tight and informative stories, and I’ve written and edited feature articles, grant proposals, correspondence, handouts, flyers, press releases, (way too many) annual reports, essays, poems, short stories, a middling screenplay, and a lot of drama. I also do layout and web design, social media, videography, and at various times have been certified to be a commercial driver, drysuit diver and drone pilot.

My role here at Alaska Sea Grant is still evolving, but my initial focus is writing and editing the stories (much like this one) that you see on the blog and in Fishlines. In the longer term, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to produce videos and to pen longer feature articles. Alaska Sea Grant does important work and my goal is to make sure our stories get out there.

As is the norm in these sort of introductions, I’ll add a personal coda. In my free time I like to run marathons, packraft, cross-country ski, bicycle tour, and generally spend as much time outside as I can, ideally accompanied by my wife Amanda and Laya, our adorable-if-aloof Aussie-Husky mix. While we live in Fairbanks, we’re also lucky enough to have a place in Valdez, so I spend a lot of time enjoying the coastline that plays a central role in so many of our lives and livelihoods. 

It’s been a pleasure meeting a number of my new colleagues over the past few weeks, and I’m looking forward to working with many more Alaska Sea Grant personnel and partners in the months ahead. Your ideas and feedback are always welcome.