Picking a National Champion for Science

outreach

Picking a National Champion for Science

Posted 22 May 2013 by Matt Shipman

On May 8 a lawmaker named Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to create the position of “Science Laureate of the United States.” Regardless of the bill’s chances of passage (more on that later), it raises an interesting question: Who would make a good ambassador for science in the U.S.? The “Science Laureate” bill (H.R. 1891) would allow the president to appoint up to three science laureates, who would serve renewable one-year or two-year... Read more

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Good News: Science Festivals are an Effective Outreach Tool

Posted 1 May 2013 by Matt Shipman

Dozens of science festivals are held around the world every year, with each festival often consisting of multiple events scattered across time and space. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people pour their time, money and effort into arranging these events and – according to a new report – their investment is paying off. The Science Festival Alliance (SFA) hired an outside firm, Goodman Research Group (GRG), to conduct a three-year evaluation of four science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) festivals... Read more

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Scientists, Trust, Media and Climate Change

Posted 12 April 2013 by Matt Shipman

Who do you trust? That question is at the heart of public debate on climate change. If you trust the scientific community, which overwhelmingly acknowledges the reality of climate change, then you likely think climate change is a global problem that requires a global response. If you don’t trust scientists, then you may have no strong feelings about climate change – or you may think that it’s some sort of hoax. The relationship between trust and public perceptions of climate... Read more

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Four Questions for Anyone Engaged in Outreach

Posted 21 February 2013 by Matt Shipman

I have four questions for anyone engaged in (or interested in) science outreach activities -- and you can define that term as broadly as you like. If you can answer any, or all, of these questions, I'd be very grateful. Just plug your answers into the comments section below. I'm hoping to use your answers to better organize my own thoughts on issues related to assessing the outcomes of outreach activities. For Those Engaged in Outreach If you are part... Read more

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Study: Trying to Popularize Science Won’t Hurt You (and Probably Won’t Help You)

Posted 21 February 2013 by Matt Shipman

I write, and think, a lot about science outreach activities. I define the term broadly, to cover any efforts to communicate about scientific topics to any audience outside of one’s own discipline. One idea that crops up fairly often is that such efforts to “popularize” science could adversely affect one’s career – particularly in academia. And, while this has been the subject of some research, I hadn’t run across a large-scale study that evaluated the hypothesis that outreach efforts will... Read more

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Let’s Find Out What Science Outreach Can Accomplish

Posted 15 February 2013 by Matt Shipman

[Note: This post first ran Feb. 13 on Nature's Soapbox Science blog.] Many people, including me, will tell you that science outreach is important. This is nothing new. The public lectures of Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday are thought of as crucial elements in the popularization of science in the 19th century, and they are as likely to be remembered for those outreach efforts as they are for their scientific contributions (which were considerable). But here’s the thing – we can’t prove it. Scientists pride... Read more

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We Studied a Zoo: How Two Studies Assessed Outreach Impact

Posted 11 February 2013 by Matt Shipman

At the ScienceOnline conference earlier this month, I was bemoaning the dearth of literature evaluating the impact of science outreach activities. Luckily, Mun Keat Looi was part of this conversation, and he steered me to a 2012 paper he thought I’d find interesting. He was right. The paper, “Assessing Public Engagement with Science in a University Primate Research Centre in a National Zoo,” was published in April 2012 by PLOS ONE. The authors note in the opening lines of their... Read more

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A Practical Step to Bridge the Divide Between Scientists and Journalists

Posted 28 January 2013 by Matt Shipman

[Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Frank Swain, a freelance science writer who has written for Wired, the Guardian and New Scientist, among other outlets. He also runs the SciencePunk blog. Since October 2011, Swain has also served as national coordinator (in the UK) for the BenchPress Project – which was established to provide reporters with training in science and statistics. I asked him to write this post, in part, because I think the BenchPress Project is very... Read more

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Preparing For an Interview, Part Three: Researchers (for TV and Radio)

Posted 17 January 2013 by Matt Shipman

To many researchers, the only thing more terrifying than doing a taped TV interview is doing a live TV interview. Going on live radio is only a little less scary. But if you are prepared, and don’t panic, TV and radio interviews can be very effective science communication tools. First of all, here are some numbers to explain why TV is so important. In September 2012, the Wall Street Journal had the largest circulation of any U.S.-based newspaper, with approximately... Read more

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