With fall comes a new batch of student interns who will be writing for forthcoming issues of Perspectives magazine. Inevitably, some of them will be reporting for the first time on science, engineering, medicine, and other technical topics, wrestling with terms such as peptides and polymers. For many writers — new and seasoned — talking with scientists and other researchers can be daunting. Immersed in their fields day in and day out, reading, speaking, and breathing such topics as physics and physiology, researchers can conceive of their work in a lingo puzzling to a layperson. Some can switch gears easily. Other times, the writer must work with the scholar to “bring it down a notch” by using analogies and simpler language that reporters and readers can easily understand.

Fortunately, many scholars at Ohio University understand the importance of being able to convey their research to a lay audience, as it’s something they’re asked to do more and more: teaching basic concepts about their disciplines to young undergraduate students, proposing their research ideas to funding agencies that could grant awards to further their work, and translating their findings to news reporters who can relay their scientific discoveries to the public at large.

For some faculty members, speaking to a writer from Perspectives magazine is one of the first times they’ve discussed their work at length with someone outside of the discipline. And while the experience can be nerve-wracking to some, it also can be exciting. Some scholars end the interviews with comments such as “No one has ever asked me such detailed questions about what I do” or “Your questions got me thinking.” Of course, it’s a learning experience for us writers, too. We enjoy hearing about the variety of work on campus, from hard science to the arts (which has its own brand of lingo as well), and developing an understanding of new concepts. For many of us, it’s a thrill to make a living asking questions and learning about such far-flung topics as nanotechnology and modern dance in the same week.

Ultimately, the readers of this publication get to enjoy the fruits of the work of both researchers and writers (and photographers and artists, who simultaneously tell the visual story of the research and creative activity). It’s rewarding to hear about readers who encounter something new or unexpected in our pages. We’ve covered a variety of stories in this magazine since its inception in 1997, but I’m always amazed at how much left there is to discover.