Workshop: Opinion writing masterclass
10am – 4pm on Saturday 03 October 2026; Irish Writers Centre
ISTJA hosted an intensive one-day workshop for science writers on writing and pitching opinion and comment/analysis articles.
Every day brings a deluge of opinion writing. What was once a relatively niche category of communication is becoming a mainstream format – including for science writers and researchers.
Ehsan Masood is Nature’s Editor for Editorials. He also has responsibility for the journal’s science news from Africa and the Middle East. His most recent book is GDP: The World’s Most Powerful Formula and Why it Must Now Change (Icon Books, 2021). He also wrote Science and Islam: A History (BBC/Icon Books, 2008). In 2017, Ehsan spent a year at MIT where he studied the impact of the McCarthy era on scientists in the United States. He is a member of the board of the Association of British Science Writers.
Olive Heffernan is a Dublin-based science journalist who writes about the ocean and climate change. She is the author of a 2024 non-fiction book, THE HIGH SEAS, and the former chief editor of Nature Climate Change.
Catriona Boyle is the current ISTJA President. She is an experienced science journalist and editor with extensive experience across various communications activities such as publications, events, social media, and media partnerships.
