Author Q & A: Emiliano Rodriguez Mega On A Dangerous Threat to Scientific Advancement in Mexico
We chose Emiliano Rodríguez Mega’s story, “Violent Drug Cartels Stifle Mexican Science,” published in Nature News and Comment, as one of our top picks for “News and Trends” in the January-March 2019 round-up. Rodríguez Mega’s piece underscores the danger that scientific advancement faces in the wake of rising drug-related violence in Mexico. As drug cartels run amok, scientists have been forced to abandon their research projects and focus instead on their safety. The SciShortform editors believe Rodriguez wrote an exceptionally relevant piece, highlighting a side of the Mexican drug wars not often discussed.
Thus, we asked Rodríguez Mega a few questions about his time researching and writing this piece.
Q1: How did you come to write this piece? (Did you pitch the topic or was it assigned? What piqued your interest in it?)
When I started getting into science journalism, around 2014 or 2015, I pitched a story about science and violence in Mexico to one of my professors. The pitch was a total failure. I did not have any clear sense of a story, characters, or angle. But the subject was fascinating to me. Since then, I’ve written a little bit about the intersection between science and drug trafficking. So, when I heard that drug-related…
