ED41B:
The Role of Scientists as Communicators: Practice, Research, and Reflection I


Session ID#: 8226

Session Description:
Do you consider yourself a science communicator? Does your research group or institution participate in public engagement activities? Have you ever evaluated or published your education and outreach efforts?

Scientists communicate to non-peer audiences through numerous pathways including websites, blogs, public lectures, media interviews, and educational collaborations. A considerable amount of time and money is invested in this public engagement and these efforts are to a large extent responsible for the public perception of science. However, few incentives exist for researchers to optimize their communication practices to ensure effective outreach. This session encourages critical reflection on science communication practices and provides an opportunity for science communicators to share best practice and experiences with evaluation and research in this field.

Primary Convener:  Heidi A Roop, University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States; Victoria University of Wellington, Science in Society, Wellington, New Zealand
Conveners:  Samuel Michael Illingworth, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom, Sarah DeWitt, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, United States and Saskia M van Manen, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7, United Kingdom; The Netherlands Red Cross, Resilience Advisory Unit, The Hague, Netherlands
Chairs:  Heidi A Roop, Victoria University of Wellington, Science in Society, Wellington, New Zealand; University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States, Sarah DeWitt, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, United States and Saskia M van Manen, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7, United Kingdom
OSPA Liaison:  Heidi A Roop, Victoria University of Wellington, Science in Society, Wellington, New Zealand; University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States

Cross-Listed:
  • C - Cryosphere
  • GC - Global Environmental Change
  • H - Hydrology
  • SI - Societal Impacts and Policy Sciences
Index Terms:

0815 Informal education [EDUCATION]
0840 Evaluation and assessment [EDUCATION]
0845 Instructional tools [EDUCATION]
6349 General or miscellaneous [POLICY SCIENCES]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

AAAS Communicating Science Program: Reflections on Evaluation (75859)
Jeanne Braha, American Association for the Advancement of Science Washington DC, Washington, DC, United States
Flash Mob Science – Increasing Seismic Hazard Awareness and Preparedness in Oregon (Invited) (59382)
Jeremy S Hoffman, PhD, Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, United States and Douglas S Lownsbery, Oregon State University, College of Education, Corvallis, United States
A Seismic Shift: Evaluating Changes in Scientists’ Attitudes Regarding Journalists and Science Communication After Media Workshops (78003)
Sara McBride, Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Palmerston North, New Zealand and Dacia Herbulock, Science Media Centre, Wellington, New Zealand
Personal Storytelling and Narrative as a Means for Climate Scientists to Engage and Inform Public Audiences - Illustrated by the Play '2071 - The World We'll Leave Our Grandchildren' Comissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London and the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg (59107)
Chris G Rapley, University College London, Earth Sciences, London, United Kingdom
Two Bears Walk Into a Bar…. A Quest to Communicate Climate Change Ends in Puppets and Sketches and Songs (75249)
Josh K Willis, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States and Rani O'Brien, Self Employed, Los Angeles, United States
Podcasting as an Effective Medium for Direct Science Communication and Outreach to the General Public (65144)
Abraham J Padilla1,2, Ryan J Haupt2,3, Patrick Wheatley2 and Charles J Barnhart2,4, (1)Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, (2)Science... sort of, Lorton, VA, United States, (3)University of Wyoming, Geology and Geophysics, Laramie, WY, United States, (4)Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, United States
Role of Public Outreach in the University Science Mission: Publishing K-12 Curriculum, Organizing Tours, and Other Methods of Engagement (80965)
Timothy M Dittrich, Wayne State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Detroit, MI, United States
NASA's Earth Observatory: 16 Years of Communicating with and for Scientists (82326)
Kevin Ward1, Michael J Carlowicz1, Jesse Allen1, Adam Voiland2, Paul Przyborski1, Kathryn Hansen1 and Joshua Stevens1, (1)Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United States, (2)Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, United States

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