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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

ERINN BARCOMB-PETERSON
Research news and features coordinator

 

As Kansas State University's primary research and science writer, I engage the media and the public in significant and interesting findings by K-State faculty. This includes topics as diverse as animal health, sustainability, hard sciences and research that impacts Kansans and society as a whole. I've publicized research about black holes, Second Life, sexuality in nursing homes and how many germs dogs and their owners share. I also spearhead special webzine packages on topics like sustainability, engagement and international involvement.

I get the word out by crafting news releases that speak to a broad audience and combining them with social media, photos and video. My efforts have drawn the interest of national and international media, from the New York Times and CBS News to National Public Radio and The Discovery Channel.

Whether it's through fielding phone calls or using a service like ProfNet, I connect reporters and editors with the K-State sources they seek. My pitches have helped K-State's name get out to media as far-reaching as the Christian Science Monitor and The History Channel and to media as local as Kansas newspapers and television stations. I assisted film crews from the television show "Modern Marvels" on two separate assignments in which they interviewed K-State experts I suggested for the show.

I supervise an assistant research writer, Kristin Hodges, and a student who creates video podcasts for K-State's YouTube EDU channel. I also help the university by representing K-State media relations when our office's expertise is sought. As a main contributor to the Twitter account @k_state_news, I headed a committee that suggested best practices and guidelines for Twitter use by official K-State groups.

I also contribute my design skills at opportunities to promote K-State visually for the president's office. I designed a billboard to promote K-State at the Kansas City International Airport and several ads for the Chronicle of Higher Education to celebrate K-State's student scholars and national award-winning teachers.

I earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kansas in 2001 and became a dedicated Wildcat when I joined the media relations team in 2005. Before that, I spent more than four years working in Kansas as a newspaper reporter/editor/designer/photographer at the World Company's Eudora News and as a design editor at the Ottawa Herald. I earned numerous awards from the Kansas Press Association in writing, photography and design.

In the summer of 2000 I was a reporting intern at my hometown newspaper, the Wichita Eagle. My first experience in professional newspapers was as a high school student in the late 1990s on the Eagle's sports crew, which meant taking down preps sports scores and picking up carryout dinners for the sports reporters.

Although I'm no longer doing dinner deliveries, I am interested in promoting K-State research and helping the media find sources. You can reach me at 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu or on Twitter @ebar97.