Presentations
Conference Presentations
2018
Lessons learned from workshop on communicating science for polar scientists
Oral Presentation
University of the Arctic Congress 2018
Oulu / Helsinki, Finland
3 - 7 Sep 2018
Effective science communication is crucial for polar scientists: polar research often involves contested topics and is focused on often unfamiliar geographic regions, making it even more difficult to convey the importance of their research. With support from NASA and NSF, we held a three-day science communication workshop for polar researchers in Boulder, Colorado, on August 12-14, 2017. The overarching objective of the workshop was to train a diverse group of polar scientists (32 participants, majority of whom were early career scientists) to better deliver their work in a captivating and compelling manner to people both within and outside their disciplines.
This workshop was led by science communication professionals from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University and The Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR) at University of Colorado, Boulder. Workshop participants learned and practiced strategies for enhancing both oral and written science communication. Activities included embodied and improvisational exercises, reflective writing, discussion of communication and philosophy, interactive presentations, and the development of communication materials. The cohort continues to share (via an email list) how they have been sharing and applying their training. This presentation will include lessons learned from participant feedback and surveys from before and after the workshop which aim to assess the impression of workshop participants regarding the relevance of workshop content, effectiveness of the teaching style(s) used by facilitators, specific (activity-related) outcomes, and overall workshop outcomes 1 month and 1 year after the workshop.
This workshop was led by science communication professionals from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University and The Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR) at University of Colorado, Boulder. Workshop participants learned and practiced strategies for enhancing both oral and written science communication. Activities included embodied and improvisational exercises, reflective writing, discussion of communication and philosophy, interactive presentations, and the development of communication materials. The cohort continues to share (via an email list) how they have been sharing and applying their training. This presentation will include lessons learned from participant feedback and surveys from before and after the workshop which aim to assess the impression of workshop participants regarding the relevance of workshop content, effectiveness of the teaching style(s) used by facilitators, specific (activity-related) outcomes, and overall workshop outcomes 1 month and 1 year after the workshop.