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The Inception of Innovations in Science

Innovations in Science began as an idea for a series of columns for the independent local newspaper, Ithaca Times, that would shed light on the scientific advances being made right here in Ithaca and allow community members to better engage with their neighbors doing the research. When Roy Allen wrote the first column for the Ithaca Times, he was well aware of the excitement that local Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Paleontological Research Institution researchers had for the project — but he didn’t know that it would become the beginning for a movement.

At the same time, Emma Scales, a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell, was looking for a way to institutionalize the mission behind a nationwide science communication initiative she helped found and lead in 2025 — the McClintock Letters. That initiative resulted in the publication of over 200 articles written by scientists for their hometown newspapers across at least 45 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, about what they do and why it matters.

In early 2025, major disruptions to the federal research infrastructure rocked the scientific world. Emma and her colleagues in the Scientist Network for Advancing Policy (SNAP) and the Cornell Advancing Science and Policy Club recognized that widespread public outcry never came — because the scientific community had long overlooked something critical: community engagement. The McClintock Letters were born of this realization as a first step. The initiative was widely applauded, but the praise felt empty without a way to grow and strengthen the ties between scientists and their communities.

So, in February 2026, when Emma happened to pick up a copy of the Ithaca Times at her local coffee shop and read Roy’s first Innovations in Science column — you can imagine the serendipity. Emma and Roy quickly got in touch, and with the support and enthusiasm of a team of early career researchers from SNAP, imagined a new way forward that would lift up local newspapers and make science more accessible to the communities already enabling it.

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