2025 New Directions Keynote

From Cold War science diplomacy to today's AI arms race, research has always been entangled with political forces. In 2025, however, the impact of political messaging (and other forces) has put a bright spotlight on these questions: Can the public trust science? Do scientific journals have value? This keynote explores how publishers can operate amid such challenges, responding to areas of great public and policymaker interest and concern. With a special focus on tactics, including some that have been recently explored at the Science family of journals, the keynote highlights strategies for leveraging publishers’ strengths and assets in ways that stand to help replace public doubt with public confidence.

2025 New Directions Seminar Keynote

Publication Date

October 2025

New Directions 2025

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Meagan Phelan

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Director of Communications, Science, Family of Journals, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Meagan is the Communications Director for the Science family of journals, where she oversees efforts to boost the visibility of all forthcoming Science family of journal content for reporters worldwide. Prior to joining AAAS in 2013, she served as a senior writer at AIR Worldwide, where she interacted with more than 65 Ph.D.-level scientists and engineers to communicate advances in wind engineering, seismology, climate science, and other fields. Previously, she was a senior writer and editor at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Meagan holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Spanish from Gettysburg College, and a Master's degree in Science Writing from The Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, Meagan received a Fulbright Scholarship to work with Dr. Juan Antonio Raga at the University of Valencia to help determine the cause of morbillivirus resurgence among small cetaceans in the Mediterranean. Meagan also completed science-reporting internships with Science as well as National Public Radio and has freelanced for various outlets including Anesthesiology News.

Meagan Phelan

3

Communications Director, Science, Family of Journals, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Meagan is the Communications Director for the Science family of journals, where she oversees efforts to boost the visibility of all forthcoming Science family of journal content for reporters worldwide. Prior to joining AAAS in 2013, she served as a senior writer at AIR Worldwide, where she interacted with more than 65 Ph.D.-level scientists and engineers to communicate advances in wind engineering, seismology, climate science, and other fields. Previously, she was a senior writer and editor at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Meagan holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Spanish from Gettysburg College, and a Master's degree in Science Writing from The Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, Meagan received a Fulbright Scholarship to work with Dr. Juan Antonio Raga at the University of Valencia to help determine the cause of morbillivirus resurgence among small cetaceans in the Mediterranean. Meagan also completed science-reporting internships with Science as well as National Public Radio and has freelanced for various outlets including Anesthesiology News.