CU Boulder researchers to tackle asteroids, swarming robots at ScienceWriters2021
CU Boulder faculty in aerospace, computer science and affiliated with the BioFrontiers Institute will speak on how insects can influence robots and what can be learned from asteroids at this year’s biggest science communications conference.
ScienceWriters2021 will be held Sept. 28–Oct. 8, 2021, in an all-virtual format.
The annual conference is the nation’s premier science communications gathering and is organized by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW) and the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) in coordination with a different research institution each year.
CU Boulder and CU Anschutz Medical Campus will co-host the in-person conference in 2023—drawing hundreds of journalists and communicators to Boulder and Aurora—after the most recent COVID-19 surge resulted in cancellation of in-person events in 2021. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is hosting the 2022 conference.
Here’s a quick look at the two 2021 sessions by CU Boulder faculty:
"Computing the swarm: How the dynamics of fireflies, bees, and sheep may lead to robots that work en masse"
Friday, Oct. 1, 2-3 p.m. Mountain Time
Orit Peleg, an assistant professor at the department of computer science and the BioFrontiers Institute, will share what she has learned from new views of communal animal behavior and her ideas for how engineers can adapt such mechanisms to design robotic swarm systems that combine simple building blocks to accomplish difficult tasks.
"Seven missions to asteroids: The major insights into minor planets coming soon"
Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2-3 p.m. Mountain Time
Daniel Scheeres, the A. Richard Seebass endowed chair and distinguished professor of aerospace engineering, will discuss the latest asteroid science and give updates on various space missions in pursuit of asteroid knowledge. Scheeres currently serves as the mission PI for Janus and has worked on the science teams for Osiris-Rex, Hyabusa, and the NEAR mission to Eros.
Learn more & register
Registration and more information is now available on the .
Are you a #scicomm professional or a journalist, author, editor, producer, public information officer or another professional who covers science or health? Visit for a $55 introductory rate and save on your registration. Registration closes on Sept. 30 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
- NASW members rate: $110 (members of AAJA, BlackAFinSTEM, NABJ, NAHJ, NAJA, NLGJA, SACNAS, SAJA, and the Trans Journalists Association are also invited to register at the NASW member rate)
- Student rate: $25
- Non-member rate: $275