Debbie Ponchner Email & Phone Number

San José, Costa Rica

Managed the communication and marketing department of ULACIT, Costa Rica’s number one ranked private university, overseeing the work of a team of ten communication professionals (journalists, video producers and designers).

San Jose, Costa Rica

I write and edit articles for Scientific American, Sapiens, The Open Notebook, and The New York Times.

New York

Spanish-language editor for Scientific American. -Built the Spanish language site of Scientific American from scratch. Responsibilities ranged from working on the architecture of the website to establishing coverage of all scientific disciplines, from biology to physics, setting up content partnerships and creating a network of over 20 freelancers who provide original world-class science stories, mainly from the Latin American region. -Runs the website by assigning, editing, writing and translating stories. Works closely with the editorial team of the magazine—both print and online—to develop, assign and edit stories as a contributor to weekly editorial meetings. -Through the management of social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and Google) and newsletters, builds the website audience. The Facebook account currently has over 95.000 followers and the website draws more than 100.000 readers every month.

San José, Costa Rica

-Oversaw a newsroom of over 150 people, working directly with the 12 section editors of the newspaper. Led the daily editors’ meeting, put together the daily store lineup and directed breaking news coverage, both print and online. Headed editorial special projects—either multi-part reports or special topic issues of the newspaper, such as a complete edition dedicated to environment issues on World Environment Day, and a weeklong series called Agenda La Nación on complex social issues—teen pregnancy, personal debt and the challenges of an aging population. Worked closely with the investigative unit in planning coverage. Served as a team member on La Nacion’s Wikileaks project –the newspaper became part of a global team in which it focused on cables related to Latin America. -Led the team that worked for six months rebuilding the newspaper’s website. Helped resolve the unique challenges of translating print stories for online presentation. Collaborated with a design firm to establish the look and feel of the website (2013). -Organized coverage of special news events, including national elections, the World Cup and the Olympic Games.-Wrote the weekly column and blog on science developments entitled “Epicentro de la ciencia” (“Science Focus” ).

San José, Costa Rica

-Oversaw and/or edited five sections of the newspaper: Aldea Global (daily Science & Technology, Health and Arts publication), Zurqui (a weekly science magazine for children that featured do-it-yourself science experiments) , Ancora (weekly Arts publication), B&R (weekly real state publication) and Compras (weekly fashion and trends publication).-Coordinated and edited educational– and science–related special projects producing posters or collectibles on the Solar System, the human body, dinosaurs, climate change, sustainability, the national parks of Costa Rica, among others. -Wrote the weekly column and blog on science developments entitled “Epicentro de la ciencia” (“Science Focus” ).

San José, Costa Rica

-After an academic year as a Knight Science Journalism fellow at MIT, returned and proposed the creation of the first daily science section of the newspaper (2005-2010). The daily section carries out three different topics: Science & Technology, Health & Family and Arts & Literature.-Direct supervisor of the work of four journalists, responsible of establishing coverage and editing of the section. Writer of Science and Technology articles and features.

San José, Costa Rica

Writer of science and health news and special reports.

Knight Science Journalism Fellowship

Knight Science Journalism Fellow. During the nine-month program took science courses on a wide range of topics: biology, genetics.

Master, Science And Medicine Communication

Bachelor'S Degree, Social Communication With An Emphasis On Journalism., Graduated With Honors.