Journal Sentinel’s Mark Johnson to be Science Writer in Residence

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Mark Johnson will bring his experience and expertise to campus as the fall 2014 University of Wisconsin–Madison Science Writer in Residence.

A health and science reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Johnson will spend time with students, faculty and staff the week of Sept 22. He’ll share some of his insights at a free public lecture in the Landmark Room at Union South on Tuesday, Sept. 23 from 4-5 p.m., focused on embracing scientific thinking.

In 2011, Johnson and a team of colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting for their three-part series, “One in a Billion: A boy’s life, a medical mystery.” Their work told the story of a young Wisconsin boy battling a mysterious genetic illness and the dedication of his family and physicians to identify the cause and a treatment.

Though Johnson jokes he has trouble working a cell phone, his talent for reporting has landed him on three other Pulitzer-finalist teams. Utilizing a different skillset, Johnson also once played in a punk/grunge band in the early 1990s called The Bloody Stumps, part of the vibrant “Rockford Scene.”

Before covering health and science, Johnson was a general assignment reporter. He covered the 2000 presidential election ballot controversy in Florida, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York and the 1986 space shuttle disaster in Houston.

He joined the Journal Sentinel 14 years ago, previously working at The Providence (Rhode Island) Journal-Bulletin, The Rockford (Illinois) Register Star, The Haverhill (Massachusetts) Gazette and The Provincetown (Massachusetts) Advocate.

The UW–Madison Science Writer in Residence Program has welcomed distinguished journalists and nationally recognized science writers for the last 29 years. It was established with help from the Brittingham Trust and has continued with support from the University of Wisconsin Foundation. The program is sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and University Communications.