The Science Communicator

This University is quite good about providing science communication opportunities for scientists.

Though to be honest, I haven't really worked anywhere else where I've been part of a department with a physical location, (ie. eveyone grouped together) so maybe it's not that special. Maybe I think 'good communication' is just having other people around, as compared to working in a pokey little lab by myself!

Today I went to a 'science communication' workshop offered by the university. 'Learn to promote your science to the public!' 'How to talk to the media!' That kind of thing. This isn't something that seems very relevant to me, at this early stage of my career. It's not like a journalist is going to ring up the university and speak to me about my research anytime soon. Um, Nature paper wha'?

But yet I felt quite motivated about the whole thing. Maybe more so than my PhD, which is a bit of a worry!

A scientist who is a good science communicator is rare. Personal experience tells me that it seems to correlate with discipline: 'soft' scientists seem to pick up the jist more than those 'hard-core' physicists. But there are exceptions. Take Brian Greene for example, he's probably going to be around for the rest of eternity, drumming up scientific interest throughout the whole of the universe.

I recently left a neuropsychology laboratory. Maybe the soft and squidgy type of neuroscience to many. But in that lab, I was involved in making websites, writing content about our research, recruiting people for studies and talking about the 'brain as a whole'. Now I'm working in a lab where I could be the only person without a physics major and am not entirely sure whether light is a wave or a particle. (Apparently it can be both?) Ah but I jest... The only communication I've seen so far is in lab meetings where I am asked repeatedly 'do you know about this?' 'do you understand this?'. (Again, the answer is NO people, what's wrong with my communication skills here!). My point is, I'm missing my old lab in this respect, and worry whether I will get any science communication opportunities during my PhD. As far as my PhD project is concerned, there is no 'brain as a whole'.

Public understanding of science (PUS), public engagement of science and technology (PEST), whatever the not-so-well-thought-out acronym, science communication is important, for all the social reasons. And as a early career scientist, this is something that I want to be good at.

Diverging for a minute, during the workshop, the topic of risk communication came up in regards to animal research. You know, you're at a party and someone brings up the awkward topic of how exactly you get the brain out of a rat. Not socially acceptable. Very timely for my recent post. Funny coincidence, or maybe just because it's been on my mind.

At the end of the workshop, someone asked the question 'where can I go for some books to learn how to communicate with the media?' I can see the irony, but I have to relate with the desire to learn everything the academic way.

Maybe there's a way to go yet in bridging the gap between scientists and the media.