Resources

Effective November 2018, The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America will accept submissions for consideration in a new section dedicated to Communicating Science. All articles published in the series are free to publish and freely available via open access. This new space in the journal provides ESA members interested in communication and engagement a platform for publishing articles on…

New Web Articles on National Parks in the History of Science National parks in the United States have hosted some of the most significant and influential research projects in ecology and other fields. Many of those studies have launched new lines of inquiry, revealed new taxa, informed foundational ideas in a variety of disciplines, provided “real-world” complements to laboratory studies,…

The Intergroup Dialogue Project website indicates that IDP was founded as a series of undergraduate-focused courses and resources at Cornell University (2012). By 2016, IDP had developed “the first and only graduate and postdoc dialogue program in the country.” Beyond the programs and courses IDP offers at Cornell, they provide an overview of their core tool, the LARA Method: Listen,…

In this article in Nature Biotechnology, Maximiliaan Schillebeeckx, Brett Maricque, and Cory Lewis detail: The limited availability of academic positions vs number of PhDs granted per year; What a group of PhD students and postdocs at Washington University-St. Louis are doing to expand their training and career options in light of the academic job market. Broadly, the authors call for grassroots…

In this article from Aeon, Dr. Michela Massimi takes on the essential-yet-complex role of truth in science. Philosophical, thought-provoking, and essential reading. Lots to ponder in here about how truth gets portrayed, how perceptions of what is true change, notions of truth vs. consensus, and the implications of these nuances and fluidity for public trust in science.

According to Tracey L. Weissgerber, Natasa M. Milic, Stacey J. Winham, and Vesna D. Garovic, proper representation of small data sets and sample sizes allows accurate interpretation. Doing so, they assert, requires displaying continuous data. But, they write, “Most papers presented continuous data in bar and line graphs. This is problematic, as many different data distributions can lead to the same…

Excerpt from website: “Metcalf Institute webinars feature leading scientists, policy makers, and communicators in a variety of fields to help news consumers make sense of complex science and environment issues.  The seminars are archived on Metcalf Institute’s YouTube channel. Metcalf Institute webinars are part of our Climate Change and the News Initiative, developed to assist journalists in covering the science and impacts of…

According to their website, Atomic Hands‘ mission is: “Atomic Hands is committed to increasing public accessibility to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through American Sign Language and fostering collaboration and networking opportunities among current and future Deaf STEMists.” Their website includes resources for communities, K-12 schools, and universities, along with ASL Stem dictionaries and more.

  This free, online course from the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice (University of Washington) addresses how to engage with limited English proficiency populations. Overview excerpted from their website: Description In emergencies, limited English proficient populations are one of our most vulnerable populations. Communicating effectively can be challenging due to language, cultural, technological, and logistical barriers. This 90-minute webinar…

Excerpt from website: “Social media effectiveness shouldn’t rely on luck. Too long have superstitious, unicorns-and-rainbows myths dominated the field. The culmination of years of research, this webinar presents a framework for reliable social media success. Watch this on-demand webinar to learn how to build your reach, engineer contagious ideas and measure your results, through data-backed, scientifically-proven best practices.”