The Importance of Writing and Communication Skills in Spectroscopy

Pursuing a vocation in the sciences comes with its own set of challenges, and it also requires students to obtain specific skills and knowledge. For example, any student pursuing careers in spectroscopy need to not only have the basic scientific knowledge feel like second nature, but they also need ample amounts of laboratory experience. They need to know how to work with instruments, how to prepare samples, and how to conduct analyses.

However, what often gets overlooked are soft skills that are more integrated in the humanities departments, such as writing skills and communication skills.

In this “Pathways in Spectroscopy” clip, Mary Kate Donais, a Professor at St. Anselm College,¹ elaborates on this topic. The below clip talks about the importance of writing and communication skills in spectroscopy, even if the curriculum doesn’t always focus on it. She emphasizes that while liberal arts colleges do a fairly good job at educating their science students to read, write, and communicate well, not all university programs have these skills embedded in their curriculums, so it may require students to seek this knowledge outside of traditional coursework.

Spectroscopy: For a student who wants to build a career in spectroscopy today, what experiences, skills, or specializations would you encourage them to pursue beyond their core degree?

Mary Kate Donais: I would say that if they feel they've not gotten enough writing experience within their core courses in their degree, they should work on that because writing and documenting what you do is important. At a liberal arts college, they're getting a lot of that, but that isn't necessarily true about all programs, and some of those soft skills, such as communication, oral communication, and working with teams is also something really valuable to obtain.

This is the final part of our conversation with Donais. She and her team published an archaeometry paper several years ago, and it is listed under “Further Reading” for easy access.²

Reference

1. Saint Anselm College, Mary Kate Donais. Anselm.edu. Available at: https://www.anselm.edu/about/campus-directory/mary-kate-donais (accessed 2026-06-02).

Further Reading

1. Jackson, M.; Perrelli, D.; Shelley, J. T.; Donais, M. K. An Archaeometric Investigation into the Former Cataract House Hotel via Elemental Analysis. Spectrosc. Suppl. 2022, 37 (s11), 12–16. DOI: 10.56530/spectroscopy.sh9983a2