Trading STEM for storytelling

Stanford scientist and graduating doctoral student Irena Fischer-Hwang made a new discovery during her studies at Stanford: a passion for data-driven news. She will be coming back to the Farm in the fall to pursue a second degree; this time, a master's in communication. For new Stanford graduates with a PhD in electrical engineering, their next move could be working as a researcher in an industrial lab, joining a Silicon Valley tech startup or, for new grad Irena Fischer-Hwang, learning to become a journalist. Fischer-Hwang, who will receive her doctorate in electrical engineering this weekend, is coming back to the Farm in the fall to pursue a master's degree in the Communication Department's journalism program. Irena Fischer-Hwang in the space that she created to record the podcast The Informaticists. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero) Fischer-Hwang said she realized early in her graduate studies that it was important to communicate science to wider audiences. "There's an unexpected side to science that is really fun to communicate to people," Fischer-Hwang said.