While media are paying attention to the issue of climate change and its effects on the planet, the link between the environment and breast cancer is being overlooked, according to UWindsor student Jane McArthur.

A doctoral candidate in sociology, she published an article on the topic in The Conversation, an online not-for-profit outlet dedicated to bringing scholarly work to a general readership.

The University of Windsor is one of 19 Canadian universities that has signed on as a member: associated academics can register as contributors with access to editorial help and collaboration, professional development in journalistic writing, readership analytics, and access to queries for expertise on topical issues.

McArthur says the publication’s analytics show her article, entitled “As the oceans rise, so do your risks of breast cancer,” has found almost 18,000 readers in less than a week — making it the website’s third most-read piece.

“It is nice as a UWindsor PhD candidate to have our institution so broadly represented,” she says.

Scott White, editor of The Conversation’s Canadian edition, will discuss how it can help researchers to mobilize their knowledge, impact practice, and recruit graduate students, in two sessions Feb. 5 on the UWindsor campus:

• “Getting Started with The Conversation” runs noon to 2 p.m. and promises a pizza lunch;
• “Journalistic Writing: Tips and Strategies” runs 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Both are set for the Freed-Orman Commons, Assumption Hall. Register online by Feb. 1.