Degree in communications from American University in Washington, D.C.; master's degree in physics from the Old Dominion University; one of fourty semi finalists in the "Journalist in Space Program" (cancelled following the Challenger tragedy); candidate from Virginia; in 1986 working as freelancer; for several years Adjunct Professor of Journalism in Boston University's graduate science-writing program; currently visiting professor with the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.