David Appell
david.appell@gmail.com
home page: http://www.davidappell.com
BACKGROUND: Writer and
journalist with broad technical and scientific knowledge. Experience as an
engineer, computer programmer, and scientist. Writing ability to communicate
technical topics to experts and nonexperts alike. Education in physics,
mathematics, and creative writing.
EXPERIENCE:
3/98 to present
Freelance writer and journalist
- I
write news and feature articles on science, technology, and other topics
for a variety of periodicals. I’ve written for Scientific American,
Physics World, Audubon, New Scientist, Discovery Channel Online, Science,
Popular Science, The Industrial Physicist, Gale Research science and
technology encylopedias, and many other
publications. See my list of
publications.
- I was
the Internet’s first science blogger. I started blogging on December 29,
2001; my first page is archived here. In
March 2003 I transitioned
to my own domain, and the Wayback Machine
contains other
posts that appeared there. Since May 2006 I've been at davidappell.blogspot.com
.
- I’ve
gotten a few week-long fellowships for journalists, which they basically
give to everyone but, I guess, some people like to list as if they’re a
big deal: the University of Maine in 2005, Oregon State University in
2008, Woods Hole in 2012 and NCAR in 2014. At Woods Hole it seems I asked
too many questions, because the other reporters eventually complained about
it. About asking too many questions. Imagine that.
1997-1998
PENNWELL PUBLISHING CO., Nashua, NH
Assistant Editor, Technology, Laser Focus World
- Wrote
news articles and feature length articles to deadline for laser and
electro-optics trade magazine and its associated newsletter, Laser
Report. Specialization in lasers, space science, and fiber optics.
- Solicited
and edited feature-length articles for the magazine.
- Attended
conferences and survey journals and papers to keep industry audience
abreast of technology and scientific developments and trends.
- Selected
technologies to be listed in New Products section.
- I was
fired several weeks after my boss was
murdered by her husband, which threw everyone for a loop. I didn’t
like it much there anyways, especially living in a small cubicle under
fluorescent lights, and with my remaining supervisors being unenlightened
drones. And I had spent the years 1994-1996 hiking about 1,800 miles on
various parts of the Appalachian Trail, and after that a cubicle looked
and felt like a death trap meant to capture spirited wolves.
1994-1997
Freelance writer and journalist
- Generated
story ideas, queried editors, wrote news and feature articles to deadline,
and worked with editors on revisions.
- Published
in The Industrial Physicist, The Appalachian Trailway
News, Poets & Writers, Backpacker, Internet World, The Phoenix Gazette,
The Arizona Republic and other magazines, newspapers and literary
journals. See list of publications
.
- Correspondent
for weekly town newspaper, The Williston Whistle, Williston, VT. That
was fun – in retrospect.
- Associate
Editor, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
My best work there was an interview with T. Coraghessan
Boyle, conducted pool side at a Ritz Carlton somewhere in Phoenix.
- Proofreader,
Academic and Administrative Documents, Arizona State University, Tempe,
AZ.
- I did
a lot of long-distance backpacking during this time with my girlfriend
Sharon, first (in the summer of 1994) 350 miles on the Appalachian Trail
from Delaware Water Gap, NJ to Manchester, VT, then, in March 1996 we
began hiking at the AT’s beginning in Georgia. But despite a marvelous,
unforgettable Tolkien-like adventure, we only made it 2/3rds of the way
(1,500 miles) to Great Bennington, VT, tired and wipped
out. I partially tore a ligament in my foot at about 550 miles in – I
could still point to the spot in Virginia where the tear happened -- and
then walked almost 1,000 miles on that. But eventually the pain got the
best of me, and my foot became so swollen I couldn’t any longer lace up my
boot. Stopping was and is still the biggest disappointment of my life – so
big that I may have to go back to Georgia again someday and try anew.
- “Nostalgia
locates desire in the past,” wrote Robert Haas, “where it suffers no
active conflict and can be yearned toward pleasantly.” Wow is that ever
true – but you have to learn it the hard way.
1993-1994
MCI COMMUNICATIONS CORP., Colorado Springs, CO
Senior Engineer
- Led
systems engineering and coordinated systems development for Advantage 800,
MCI's North American 800 service developed in alliance with Bell Canada.
- Managed
design of service architecture, obtained development commitments, and
planned coordination of network enhancements.
- Traveled
too much in just nine months – from Colorado Springs to Montreal, Ottawa
(lowest temperature I’ve ever experienced, at -30°C), Toronto, Chicago,
Dallas, and back and forth all over. I decided to quit the third
consecutive Friday night I found myself waiting for my luggage to come by
on the carousel in the airport at Colorado Springs at midnight. I mean, really, that put me over the
edge.
1991-1992
GOLD SYSTEMS, INC., Boulder, CO
Director
- Involved
in all aspects of a start-up telecommunications software company, including
business development, product development and project management.
- Project
Manager and Lead Developer for a PC-based Voice Mail system. Designed
service architecture, wrote software, and planned and executed system
installation at Fayetteville Hospital, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Yes, I
wrote a voice mail system. But installing it was a very different ball of
wax.
- This
company folded in 2014, after 16 years in operation, all due almost
entirely to the heroic efforts of my good friend Terry Gold, who I met at
AT&T when I was a project manager for fraud control on virtual private
networks and he was my trustworthy programmer. The Gold Systems stock
didn’t cash in as I (and he) hoped, but such is life.
1988-1991
AT&T BELL LABS
Project Manager, Business Communications Services, Bedminster, NJ
- Managed
AT&T's Software Defined Network (SDN) Network Remote Access (NRA)
service, a $200M revenue/yr. calling card service.
- Led large
teams (5-40 people) of systems engineers, system managers, software
developers, product managers and field technicians to develop new
services, feature enhancements, and fraud control systems.
- Reduced
fraud losses by about one million dollars a month while service grew by
nearly 100%.
- In retrospect this was a great time where I felt important
and right in the middle of things. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t left, and
taken advantage of the opportunities that opened up
there like a lotus flower. But the pressure was high and I got very sick
after several months just because of the stress. I lived in a remodeled
barn in quiet Califon,
NJ that had been converted into the landlord’s painting gallery,
while Bell Labs paid all my $1000/mth rent
because I was on a job rotation. I was young and free, but stressed out –
as my landlord said, they demanded their pound of flesh.
Systems Engineer, Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ
- Systems
engineering of support systems, processes and operations for AT&T's
Software Defined Network (SDN) provisioning and maintenance. Pretty
boring.
- Wrote
service plans to improve performance of AT&T work centers. Frankly, I
had very little impact in this job, and was better suited to be the
project manager I was to be in a few years. Meantime I played and umpired
a lot of softball, and fell in love.
Other:
State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY
Research and Teaching Assistant, Department of Physics
- Performed
research in cosmology and elementary particle physics while completing a
Ph.D. in physics. Research was highly analytical and involved mathematical
analysis followed by extensive numerical analysis and scientific
programming (in UNIX/FORTRAN) of detailed calculations in quark-gluon
interactions via quantum chromodynamics.
- 3½
years teaching undergraduate physics courses.
- Met
many people from all around the world, especially after I fell into the
social circle of a big group of mathematicians. I remember it as a great
time, a letting loose socially while absorbing a huge amount
intellectually. Wish I could go through that again knowing what I know
now.
EDUCATION
- Ph.D.
in Physics, State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. Thesis
research consisted of computational analysis of high-energy subnuclear structure. (Graduate advisor: George
Sterman)
- M.A.
in Physics, State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook.
- B.S.,
double major in physics and mathematics, University of New Mexico.
- Graduate
Program in Creative Writing (15 hours completed), Arizona State
University.
AWARDS, ETC.
- Ocean
Sciences Journalism Fellowship, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute,
September 2012.
- NCAR
Science Journalism Fellowship, National Center for Atmospheric Research,
July 2014.
- Yadda
yadda.
PUBLICATIONS