Wilson da Silva attending an editorial planning meeting at the COSMOS office

Credit: Amber Birkhaimer

What science journalist Wilson da Silva did on 12 April 2006, World-Wide Day in Science:

Looking back in retrospect, I guess my day sounds rather fun. I would never in a million years have expected to be in such a position and doing these things.

I love science, and I love its expansive ideas, the fact that the world is still largely a mystery and that we as a species are slowly but surely unravelling the fabric - only to find that there is so much more to discover.

As the president of the World Federation of Science Journalists, science is a part of my day, every day. Here is what I did on the 12th of April:

In a long telephone call with Jean-Marc Fleury in Ottawa, Canada (he's the executive director of the World Federation of Science Journalists), I discussed dates for the next meeting in May, his fact-finding mission to Africa, and a workshop the federation is planning in Munich in July. We also discussed preparations for the 2007 World Conference of Science Journalists in Melbourne.

I am also the editor of COSMOS magazine. So, I spent a couple of hours editing two articles for the upcoming June/ July 2006 issue of the magazine. I e-mailed a number of writers to clarify questions about their stories and seek contacts for story images. I briefed our designer on some cover concepts and made a few phone calls to journalists and colleagues.

I then went to the ABC Studios in Ultimo, where I did a live-to-air interview with Richard Fidler on 612 ABC Brisbane about the concept of peak oil and Hubbert's Peak (in the current issue of COSMOS, April/May). I then joined Polly Rickard and recorded a 6-minute story for The Science Show on ABC Radio National.

Afterwards, I dropped into the office of ABC science broadcaster, Robyn Williams, and had an impromptu chat with Susannah Eliott, CEO of the Australia Science Media Centre in Adelaide, who was visiting and later Niall Byrne, a science communications consultant who is heading up the 2007 Melbourne conference.

I returned to the COSMOS office and reviewed some of the pictures we had shot in Britain for a profile that will be included in the next issue, and I discussed an online content development issue with a colleague. My next agenda for the day was an interview with Tony Squires and Rebecca Wilson of Vega FM in Sydney, who wanted to discuss articles in the current issue and my 2008 trip into space on Virgin Galactic.

I love that science is revolutionary - that ideas can be so powerful as to change the course of history. I certainly never, ever expected to one day go into space - but that is what this job has landed me. Our co-founder, Dr Alan Finkel, bought a ticket for himself and thinks I should come along, which is pretty unbelievable!