Five Cornell science students saw this year's American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting from a new perspective: through the eyes of the press.

As part of a Science Writing Practicum offered through the Department of Communication, the students attended the meeting as journalists -- they participated in press conferences, interviewed presenting scientists and wrote news stories about the meeting's proceedings. Bruce Lewenstein, Cornell professor of science communication, led the class trip to last week's meeting, Feb. 14-18, in Boston.

The course included a mix of undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in fields ranging from astronomy to plant science. Most students had attended scientific meetings before to present their own research, but none had ever been in the pressroom. While some are interested in becoming science journalists, others want to pursue research careers and took the course to see a press conference from the "other side." As scientists, they thought it would be helpful to understand what makes the press tick.

Before the meeting, Lewenstein explained that what the students find interesting as scientists might be very different than what would interest them as members of the press. "As a journalist covering a meeting, the hardest thing to learn is how to choose which sessions to attend, and how to decide which presentations are 'newsworthy,'" he said.

In the pressroom, students met with science writers from such publications as The New York Times, including Times' writer Robin Marantz Henig '73.

"Talking with the writers was the best part of AAAS," said Celia Smith '09, a biology and society major who wants to become a professional science writer. "We got so much practical advice -- those brief meetings entirely changed how I plan to approach my career."

Lewenstein offers the course every year that the AAAS meeting is held within driving distance of Ithaca. The next chance will be in 2011, when the meeting is in Washington, D.C.

Graduate student Melissa Rice is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.