Communicating Science

Transcription

1 Communicating Science 1 Purposes and benefits of science communication Where science communication happens Types of science communication Knowing your audience and capturing their interest Customizing your approach for your audience and venue Challenges of language and jargon Personal vs. professional What is appropriate in a given setting or via a given account? Science communication as marketing and outreach Challenges and solutions for controversial topics and resistant audiences Resources

2 An example: 2 Scientists Offer New Explanation for Island's Unexpected Uplift What is the article about? What is the target audience? How does the writer try to attract the readers interest? What is the structure of the article & the purpose/content of each section?

3 Purposes and benefits of science communication 3 With other scientists Avoid re-doing work that s already been done Peer-review (error checking) With policy-makers & corporations To be able to make informed decisions Public safety Land use regulation and planning to avoid hazards and reduce risks Promote social responsibility e.g. reducing pollution impacts on health To get better, more-effective regulations to be able to balance costs and benefits With general public To know what s going on in science, understand socially-relevant topics To be able to make informed personal decisions, be an informed voter, to avoid being fooled or taken advantage of Avoiding natural hazards and reducing risks Promote social responsibility e.g. reducing pollution impacts on health

4 4 Where science communication happens; Types of Science Communication Conferences (with Scientists, Policy-makers, Reporters, Students, etc.) Scientific/professional publications (journals, books, etc.) Blogs, Web sites Social Media Twitter Facebook Instagram Tumbler Reddit Etc. Traditional Media Newspapers Magazines TV Radio Schools, outreach Speakers at community gatherings churches, chamber of commerce, service clubs, social clubs, town halls, etc. Other community member interactions, general interpersonal communications

5 Knowing your audience and capturing interest 5 Professional scientists in same sub-discipline pseudotachylite OK Professional scientists in same general field pseudo what? Professional scientists in other science fields - pseudo what?????!!!???!? Scientifically literate public (and reporters) Non-scientifically literate public (and reporters) College students K-12 students different grade levels Science-curious types Non-curious people

6 Knowing your audience and capturing (+keeping) interest 6 Relevance to peoples lives & interests job, home, safety, health, Minecraft Science gossip????? Celebrity status???? PR & Advertising, Free stuff, Extra credit Fun stuff, interactive/hands-on stuff - AR sandbox Cool, exciting demos, Blow things up, Science magic shows Choose topics that people are curious about fossils (dinosaurs), volcanoes, etc. Location, dates, audiences go to the people vs. bring them to you Appropriate length of presentation/activity (attention span) Watch out for jargon; Communicate at an appropriate level

7 Customizing your approach for your specific audience and venue 7 Talk at scientific meeting Short talk plus questions Jargon may be OK if speaking to other people in same sub-specialty Pictures with descriptions, data plots, data tables, sometimes equations Poster at scientific meeting Conversations with individual people, possibly an overview + questions Poster contents similar to above Talk to general college audience Connect more with general interests More pictures, illustrations of data, but no data tables Bring samples, use examples, demonstrations Make it a mystery to solve; Tell a story, your story Might be less science content and more story narrative Talk to local civic group Add connection to local issues/concerns Similar to above Talk to high school students Video, more hands-on stuff/demos, much less jargon Talk to grade school/middle school students More in same direction as above, fun activities, keep them on the move, play games Meeting with someone from the press Get to the point quickly; Practice your elevator talk; Tell your story; Be relatable

8 Challenges of language and jargon 8 Words that scientists use that other people have never heard of Relatively easy to solve if conscious of the language that one is using Words that mean different things to different people same words, different meanings Positive e.g. positive correlation positive feedback Good, beneficial, Increasing, + See also Dr. Allen list

9 Challenges of language and jargon 9

10 Personal vs. professional What is appropriate? 10 Language, conversation in private company of friends vs. general public, employers, etc. Personal social media account Professional social media account (separate from above or the same?) Possible danger: Tweeting politics might make people tune you out, and therefore not hear your science message either Life of a scientist, I m a real person too Can help to connect with people Agency/organization social media account (or other venue like a talk or Q&A) Should I tweet: Die political scumbag die!!!! Is this my personal opinion, or the official position of the organization that I m representing Might need disclaimer to clarify when speaking personal opinions in unofficial @BadHombreLands, etc.

11 Media Assignment 1 11 Dissect a science news article from AGU s EOS (2-3 page feature on some research) What is the purpose of the article? What is the target audience? What clues help you to determine this? How is the article structured? What is the approach used to convey information and capture interest? What strengths/weaknesses are there in this communication? Dissect 2 science news posts from Facebook Dissect 5 science news posts from Twitter Describe and compare some advantages/disadvantages/limitations of each of these communication channels Describe how these differ from journal papers Be prepared to explain/discuss your findings with the class on Monday Compile all your articles/posts and your evaluations into a new, descriptively-labeled folder on DropBox

12 Media Assignment 2 12 Write a 2-page article about your research following a format similar to the EOS article Scientists Offer New Explanation for Island's Unexpected Uplift Write a shorter, 1-paragraph summary intended for a non-science audience on Facebook Write two even shorter scientist-oriented news posts formatted for Twitter Write two short news posts intended for the general public formatted for Twitter Explain how and why each of the above is different

13 Resources 13 Bookmarked and categorized on Diigo: