Encouraging a scientific habit of the mind

Abdullahi Tsanni wants to broaden understanding and expand coverage of science research in Africa. As a child growing up in northern Nigeria, Abdullahi Tsanni always knew he had a passion for writing. Some of his earliest memories are trying to read his mother's writings in Arabic and Hausa. It was in secondary school when Tsanni also developed an interest in science. When Tsanni was studying biochemistry at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, a path toward science journalism began to take shape. "I would randomly write articles about some of the topics being taught in class: proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids," he recalls. "I would use my pocket money to print the articles I wrote, and then I would go around and paste them up on the boards in the department and share in the class."    Now at MIT, Tsanni, 28, is a student in the Graduate Program in Science Writing (GPSW).