Our History

The San Diego Science Writers Association’s history goes back more than four decades. Beginning in the 1980s, it was a loose confederation of science news reporters and university PIOs who met regularly at the 5 o’clock dinner hour—rush-hour traffic was unheard of in those laid-back days. Researchers would be invited to share a meal with the scribes at a local eatery and, between bites, answered questions about their research.

By the mid 1990s, the group shifted the meetings to a breakfast format for a while and then went quiet for a couple of years. In 1998, the group reemerged with the sassy acronym SANDSWA and a stated mission to “provide professional networking and social events for science writers in San Diego County.”

With a new sense of vigor and purpose, a diverse group of newspaper reporters, radio and TV broadcasters, consumer and trade magazine writers, PIOs, PR professionals, technical writers, and students met on a regular basis at events hosted by virtually every research institute on Torrey Pines Mesa as well as the San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, and Birch Aquarium. They wandered as far afield as the Palomar Observatory. There were even special-interest groups, an example of which was the equestrian-loving “Science Writer Riders.”

SANDSWA relaunched in summer  2018, once again bringing together the region’s science communicators and continuing the longstanding mission to hold networking and social events that bring the community together. Many members have found jobs through the organization, forged friendships, and made vital new connections that led to new opportunities.