Director, SciLine, AAAS

Rick Weiss

Rick Weiss is the founding director of SciLine, a philanthropically supported free service that connects journalists to scientist-sources and research-backed evidence, on deadline. Based at the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science, SciLine is a response to changes in the journalism landscape that saw a loss of specialty science reporters from many local newsrooms and a need to help local and general assignment reporters counter today’s infodemic of misinformation. SciLine also trains scientists to understand and work with the media. Rick has more than three decades of experience in journalism and media affairs, including 15 years as a science reporter at The Washington Post, where he wrote more than 1,000 news and feature articles about the economic, societal, and ethical implications of advances in science and technology. He has led science and technology strategic communications operations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including within the White House and the Department of Defense. Rick holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.