As a gifted science communicator, Grace Huckins — a lecturer in the Civic, Liberal, and Global Education Program at Stanford University and a freelance science writer — recently won The Nine Dots Prize for their “exceptional” response to the question: “Is data failing us?” Huckins’ response, which argues that the explosion of public, large-scale datasets and the rapid advancement of AI have led to a radical change in the way that science operates, was deemed the most innovative in a field of more than 600 entries.

Huckins is also a 2024 top award winner of the National Academies’ Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, which honor exceptional science communicators, journalists, and research scientists who have developed creative, original work to communicate issues and advances in science, engineering, or medicine for the general public.   We sat down with Huckins, who also explores how computational models could help neuroscientists build explanations that are accessible to members of the general public, to ask about their experiences exploring the mind, writing and teaching, and drawing connections between multiple disciplines to tell a deeper story.

Your doctoral work sits at the intersection of neuroscience and philosophy. How do you see the two relating to or informing one another in everyday life and in your work?

I think neuroscience needs philosophy. The brain is unimaginably complex, so much so that we need to dream up new ways of doing science if we want to have a hope of understanding it. Philosophy is one of the best tools we have for thinking rigorously and creatively about how science works now and how it might work in the future.

You’ve written for major publications like WIRED, MIT Technology Review, and Scientific American. How do you choose which stories to tell?

I love writing about big, messy problems in science. Any story when I know I’m going to have to talk to people from several different fields — neuroscience, psychology, computer science, philosophy, sociology — is right up my alley. Most of all, though, I prioritize stories that have the potential to do some good. My hope is that, by illuminating confusing or controversial areas of science that are relevant to people’s daily lives, I can, in some small way, help them live more in line with their values.

You often work across multiple topics — from chronic illness to artificial intelligence. How do you juggle topics and find common threads or tensions between them?

Sometimes I do report on a topic just for fun — after my wife and I adopted our first dog, I was inspired to write a couple of stories about dog genetics — but most of my writing is united by my fascination with the mind. In my coverage of chronic illness, I’ve considered the subtle and powerful ways that the mind can affect the body. And my writing on neuroscience and AI is very much motivated by a drive to understand where minds come from and how they work. When I was a kid, I became obsessed with the brain because I was so perplexed by the fact that a physical object gives rise to experience, subjectivity, and everything else that makes us human. I think that same obsession is present in much of my writing.

You’re currently a lecturer in the Civic, Liberal, and Global Education Program at Stanford University. What do you find most rewarding about teaching, and how does your teaching inform or connect to your public science communication?

To me, teaching is science communication. I deploy the same skills whether I’m trying to explain a tricky piece of methodology in an article or helping my students understand a key discovery in neuroscience. Both aspects of my career are rewarding in their own ways: I am so lucky to be able to reach thousands of readers with my journalistic writing, and I’m equally fortunate to be able to build relationships with the handful of students I get to teach each term.

What are some things you enjoy doing when you’re not writing, researching, or teaching?

My work requires me to stare at a computer screen for about 40 hours a week, so I try to spend as much of my free time outdoors as possible. I used to be an avid runner, until I hurt my back about a year ago. Now I have a whole repertoire of lower-impact activities. I hike with my two dogs several times a week, I ski near Lake Tahoe in the winter, and I’m even learning to sail at the Cal Sailing Club, which is an extraordinary volunteer-run organization in Berkeley.   Most people become extremely outdoorsy when they move to California, and I’m certainly no exception. The nature here is just incredible.

What are you currently reading, teaching, writing, or learning about that you think everyone should know or that’s been sparking your curiosity?

This past year has been all about AI for me. When I turned in my Ph.D. dissertation last year and finally looked up from that six-year-long project, I decided to pivot the focus of my research and writing to AI. It’s just too important for me not to. So, I’ve been reading AI coverage pretty voraciously for the past several months. I really recommend 404 Media. They’re a young and tiny organization, and yet they consistently break important AI and tech news. I think they’re doing a huge amount to keep powerful companies accountable.   When I don’t want to worry about the future, I retreat into Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels. There’s 20 of them, so nothing too devastating can ever happen to the heroes. And they’re completely engrossing.

• The National Academies’ Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications