Devi Shastri
Marquette University
BS, Biomedical Science, Journalism
Minor: Neuroscience
Devi Shastri is a rising senior at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she created her own undergraduate science writing program by combining the university’s pre-medical and journalism curriculum. She also works on campus for the university’s award-winning student newspaper, where she spent a year as the outlet’s only health, science and technology reporter, paving the path for what is now a robust two-reporter beat. She spent the last school year working as an investigative/special projects reporter, and next year will be the editor of that desk.
Prior to her internship as Science, Devi was a reporting intern for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where she spent a summer reporting from the under-covered and often underserved neighborhoods of Milwaukee. She also interned with Marquette University’s O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism for two semesters, during which she worked on a project on government transparency under the guidance of Fellow Miranda Spivack, a former editor and reporter for the Washington Post. She traveled to Flint, Michigan during her spring break for a two-day solo reporting trip for her piece on the public health system’s role in the city’s water crisis. After Science, she will return to the fellowship to work with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Pulitzer prize-winning science reporter, Mark Johnson, on a project about zoonotic diseases.
As a Diversity Travel Fellow for the National Association of Science Writers conference, she was able to visit Boston for a few days while networking with the greats. She loves talking to people and learning from their stories, and has a passion for writing about science in a way that gets lay audiences excited about it. She believes that scientific literacy is the key to increasing social equity, and that as a science writer she hopes to take steps to achieve just that.
Read Devi's published stories in Science by clicking the links below.
05/26/2016 Biotech company will sponsor historic high school science competition
6/02/2016 Leading science fair expands efforts to attract minority students
6/08/2016 Your fish might recognize your face
6/13/2016 Parrots, songbirds pack more neurons into their forebrains than most mammals
6/14/2016 Elephant’s toothpaste’ reaction explained in slow motion
6/21/2016 STEM educators fear spending bill undermines goal of new U.S. law
6/21/2016 Brain training effects may come down to placebo effect
06/24/2016 Border fences pose major conservation threat
6/29/2016 How some salamanders regrow their limbs
7/06/2016 Survey finds laissez-faire attitude toward validating antibodies
7/08/2016 House panel is generous to new federal STEM program
7/08/2016 Fungus could help combat Zika virus
7/11/2016 Major quake could strike one of world’s most densely populated regions
7/12/2016 Astronomers discover new dwarf planet within our solar system
7/14/2016 Obama is the first president to publish an academic paper
7/14/2016 You can now fly through Europe’s new x-ray tunnel
7/18/2016 You can now send your political frustrations—and more—to the stars
7/19/2016 Ancient teeth may hold permanent record of vitamin D deficiency
7/26/2016 Gender lawsuit stimulates discussion of ways to improve undergraduate science