Meet Marissa Heffernan of The Arizona Daily Star and The Daily Wildcat

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marissa Heffernan.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Marissa. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I first fell in love with journalism in high school, although when I signed up for the class, I was positive I would hate it. At that point, I was a creative writer, and “newspaper style” seemed so dry and boring. I quickly changed my tune, and at the end of that semester, I got a job as a youth columnist in my hometown’s daily paper.

My community in Maine was small, so once I started publishing those columns, people recognized me and would stop to talk about whatever my latest opinion had been. After that, I knew local journalism was exactly where I wanted to be. In 2015, I moved to Tucson, Arizona to attend the University of Arizona’s journalism program.

I’ll be graduating this May, and it’s been a whirlwind four years. I’ve worked for the student newspaper, The Daily Wildcat, all that time, moving from opinions writer to news and science reporter, to science desk editor and now, managing editor. I’ve also been interning at the local daily, the Arizona Daily Star, since August as a NASA Space Grant Intern.

Last year, I had the opportunity to produce a short documentary on modern zoos. Even though I had never filmed anything before that, it was one of my favorite experiences. I’m not yet sure where I’ll end up once I graduate, but I’m positive it will be in journalism.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As with all college students, there were points where I doubted what I wanted to do and considered changing my major. Sometimes, I got frustrated with the pace of my classes and thought about moving my minor in environmental science to a major and becoming a researcher instead. However, I would get bored studying the same thing all the time. In journalism, I can learn new things every single day.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m a science journalist. I love taking research that’s often written in dense academic language and translating it for the public, sharing important and interesting findings with them. To me, it’s important that when I write, I’m not “dumbing down” stories for people.

I really dislike that phrase, as it suggests that the public needs science to be dumbed down. I’m clarifying and explaining, not dumbing it down. That’s why I prefer to say “translating” science for the public — it’s all about getting the meaning across in a way everyone can understand, without simplifying the science.

What are your plans for the future?
As I’m about to graduate, there will likely be some very big changes in my future. Right now, I don’t have a solid plan for immediate post-graduation life. In the next three years, I hope to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and also go back to school for a master’s degree in soil science.

Contact Info:

• Website: marissaheffernan.com
• Twitter: @_mheffernan

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