Cynthia Washam

            To readers of Environmental Health Perspectives, Oncology Times and ChemMatters magazines, I’m a science and medical writer. But to University of Missouri alumni who read Mizzou magazine, I’m the generalist who penned the recent article about a farmer working to bring a greener, healthier approach to pork production. Then there are the newspaper readers who know me as a travel writer and the mothers who’ve come across my funny essays and poems about parenting.   

            Obviously, I love to write and enjoy variety. More important, I have the background and experience to write about an array of topics well.

            Medicine and life sciences have always interested me. I started college as a pharmacy major. I realized a couple years later that I did not want to spend my life counting pills, but that I would love writing about them. Biology, chemistry and anatomy classes gave me a strong background for interviewing scientists and writing about their studies.

            After discovering my passion for writing, I studied journalism at the University of Missouri, where I earned my master’s degree. I worked as a reporter for the Stuart News and the Palm Beach Daily News, both dailies here in South Florida, before starting my freelance career.

            My favorite pastime is traveling, which I do every chance I get. Travel articles I wrote have appeared in several newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald and The Dallas Morning News.

            Most of my humorous essays ran in regional parenting magazines, although I am especially proud of the two that are in the books A Cup of Comfort for Mothers and A Cup of Comfort for Mothers to Be.