Elizabeth Thomson has spent her career doing something few people do well: turning complex scientific research into compelling human stories. She walks into a room with a bright smile, a colorful spirit, and an enthusiasm for telling MIT stories that immediately draws people in. Her own story, though, is as interesting as those stories that she has been translating for everyone to enjoy for decades.
A Spontaneous Start and Evolution at MIT
A Cornell University biology graduate, Elizabeth was not sure where life would take her after college. During a recession, she spent Wednesday afternoons at the Binghamton Library combing through job listings in the Sunday editions of the Boston Globe and Washington Post. One of those searches led her to an opening at MIT's Ceramics Processing Research Laboratory, in the old Building 12. She expected to stay three years; instead, she built an entire career spanning decades.
Her career evolved alongside the rapid evolution of science communication itself. Elizabeth started at the news office writing for MIT Tech Talk, back when it was a physical, printed weekly newspaper — she and her editor hand-pasted copies into column layouts. Over time, she adapted right along with the technology: fax machines, email, digital publishing, social media, and modern transcription tools. Along the way, she was promoted from assistant editor to Chief Science Writer for the MIT News Office, a shift she called a "major turning point" in her career. She also advocated for expanding the office, helping it grow from a single science writer for the whole institute into a dedicated team.
From there, Elizabeth's talents carried her to MIT's Office of Resource Development, where she served as a senior writer and associate director of communications for several years. Most recently, she worked as the sole science writer at the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL), where she continued to write about and publicize research from MRL's principal investigators.
Bridging Science and Public Relations
What set Elizabeth apart is her dual role as both a science writer and a science publicist. "I think that it's a little unusual to both write about the science and publicize it," Elizabeth admits. "I'm one of the few that does both." She proactively shared news with global media, sending out multiple weekly press releases and cultivating personal relationships with international journalists.
Her exceptional ability to build trust between researchers and the media does not go unnoticed. When she received the MIT Infinite Mile Award for collaboration and teamwork, her citation noted: "Your energetic and persuasive ability to engage faculty members and to foster good relations with the media is legendary." MIT Institute Professor and bioengineer Robert Langer echoed this praise in a letter of recommendation, writing, "Elizabeth is one of the most talented and best reporters I've ever worked with (and I've worked with many)."
What makes Elizabeth exceptional is her humble, curious approach. She once told Professor Don Sadoway, "I have the best job at this entire institute because I get to run around and talk with people about the brilliant things they're working on, and I'm paid to do that."
Over the years, Elizabeth interviewed six Nobel Prize winners, managed advance planning for MIT's Nobel announcements, and even interviewed Stephen Hawking on short notice — an experience she counts among the highlights of her career. Her subjects range just as widely: a penguin-inspired robotic boat, microchips, a new kind of laser. Some of her favorite stories, though, were the ones that capture serendipitous discovery — a common occurrence at MIT. She points to her story on "urban physics" as a prime example, which covers Professor Franz-Josef Ulm's sudden epiphany connecting patterns in urban planning to the molecular structure of cement.
A New Chapter in Geothermal Energy
Elizabeth always brings that same curiosity and drive to projects outside her day-to-day reporting. She once published an editorial in the Washington Post advocating for a proper Civil War exhibit at the Smithsonian, and ran a popular garden blog during the pandemic.
Today, as she transitions into freelance communications work with startups like Quaise Energy, geothermal energy has become her newest passion — she is dedicated to publicizing its untapped potential to provide clean, renewable energy to the world.
When asked what she'll miss most about her time at MIT, her answer is simple: the people. Elizabeth considers it an honor to have collaborated with brilliant researchers who are not only world-class scientists but also patient teachers, ones she genuinely enjoys listening to as they explain their work. She hopes her own work will be remembered for the effort it took to communicate complicated subjects clearly — and in a way that still felt exciting.