Letter of Inquiry

Dear Jeffrey Marlow,

We are students at the University of Maryland, College Park, conducting an

ethnographic research project. After researching people of different backgrounds in
earth science, biology, and environmentalism, we realized you were the best writer to
ask based on the breadth and diversity of your work. Our hope with the ethnographic
research report is to gain a better understanding of how science writers convey their
studies and research both to other scientists and the general public, maintaining the
interest of each audience.
Our first step in the project was to select a writer that communicates scientific
discoveries and information to the public effectively and in a captivating way. Therefore,
we turned to National Geographic because they have been producing thought-
provoking, moving, and enticing stories consistently for years. We searched through
content creators for National Geographic and came across your works. In researching
you we found your large body of work as a journalist but we also discovered you are an
educator, which solidified our decision that you are the perfect subject to study and
interview for our project.
By engaging in our study, we hope to give you an opportunity to reflect upon your
writing processes. Our study will analyze how writing differs in context, e.g. how your
style differs when writing journalism as opposed to a peer reviewed scholarly article.
You may find that explaining your process is helpful as a tool in your own understanding
of this topic. Reading our final analysis may also afford you a chance to analyze your
own processes, so we would love to share our final report with you.
Your commitment in this project would include giving email interview(s)
regarding your published works and allowing us access to the raw data behind them.
Our research has several components with various deadlines: the final draft of the
Project Proposal is due 10/31/17, a first draft of the Ethnographic Report is due
11/15/17, and the final draft of the report is due 11/20/17. To make the most of a short
timeframe, and so we do not infringe upon your schedule, we would like to send you
some questions via email as soon as you confirm your interest in our project. All efforts
will be taken as to not infringe upon your work environment; we will ensure neither your
name, if you so desire, or the name of related organizations will be specified in our
notes, drafts, or final reports. Our goal is to fairly represent yourself and your profession,
while not disclosing information about the company either in conversation or in writing.
We will respect your work and conduct our data collection in a way that does not unduly
interfere with your time. When our project is complete we would love to share our final
copy of the report with you.
 We are very excited at the possibility of working with you! Please let us know at
your earliest convenience if you are interested in being our subject for this project. If you
are not interested, we would appreciate any reference to a co-worker who might be
willing to participate in this study. You can reach us through this email,
rachelrha@yahoo.com.

Thank you for your time,

Jessica McElroy, Rachel Rha, Alexandra Levitsky