Skip to main content

great scicomm

Member Highlight: Emily Cloyd & Kika Tuff part of team launching AAAS’s new How We Respond projcet

The How We Respond project launched from AAAS includes a report and multimedia stories that highlight the ways U.S. communities are actively and effectively responding to climate change, in particular at the local, state and regional levels, and the critical role of science and scientists in their response. Section members Emily Cloyd (AAAS) and Kika Tuff (Impact Media Lab; former C&E…

Read More
Screenshot of the article mentioned in the post - see link for full text.

Resource of the Week: Curing “Plant Blindness” vs. Growing Plant Love

Last year, we featured two #MySciComm posts by co-founders of Plant Love Stories, and at #ESA2018, we hosted Plant Love Stories at our booth at the Annual Meeting. Now, we’re highlighting a related publication informed by that project: a commentary in the journal Plants, People, Planet (published by the New Phytologist Trust). They write: We have a duty to conserve plants…

Read More
Photo of hand holding magnifying lens, with text that reads: "Join a Visual SciComm Research Community!" Hashtags beneath the main image read: #VisualSciComm | #VisualizingScience | #SciArt | #SciOfSciComm

Resource of the Week: Join the new online research community ‘Visual Arts in Science Education’

Jennifer Landin, a scientific illustrator and NC State professor, has launched an online group focused on research on the use of visuals/art in science education. She aims to connect and create a community across the art, communication, science, and education fields. VASE (Visual Arts in Science Education), with the goals of: 1) sharing ideas among researchers and practitioners in an…

Read More
Illustration of a sea slug (an undersea creature that looks a bit like a worm with horns). Slug is purple with yellow spots (not life-like representation). The slug's slime trail is rainbow-colored. The text reads: Sea Slugs are all simultaneous hermaphrodites.

Resource of the Week: #SciComm & #PrideMonth

It is Pride Month! Here are a few resources on representation, inclusion, and intersectionality with science. Stay tuned for more in our Resource of the Week series*, as the month progresses. As always, we’d love to hear your recommendations on additional resources to share in the series. LGBTQ+ STEM DAY “LGBTQ+ people in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) continue…

Read More

#MySciComm: Kirsten Schwarz on Community-Based Research as SciComm

This week, Kirsten Schwarz (the C&E Section incoming Chairperson) responds to the #MySciComm questions! Kirsten Schwarz is an urban ecologist studying environmental amenities and hazards in cities. Community engagement, social justice, and equity are central themes of her research. She has addressed community-level food insecurity and soil contamination in underserved neighborhoods of Sacramento, CA and the environmental drivers of soil lead…

Read More

Resource of the Week: The importance of storytelling in science

Numerous articles, resources, podcasts, and whole ventures (e.g., StoryCorps; The Moth) address key aspects of narrative and storytelling that are valuable (even essential) for sharing science. See the following articles for a few we find particularly helpful, insightful, or thought-provoking. These resources may change how you do things and/or provide you with useful citations to justify how you tell science…

Read More
Screenshot of article. Follow links to view full text.

Resource of the Week: Truth in Science (Neither Absolute Nor Timeless)

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.

Read More
Screenshot of Twitter thread. Follow links for full text.

Resource of the Week: Visualization Tips for Small Data Sets/Sample Sizes

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…

Read More

#MySciComm: You’re gonna need a bigger online outreach strategy: How Dr. David Shiffman uses social media to teach the world about sharks

This week, Dr. David Shiffman responds to the #MySciComm questions!  *Editor’s note: David is available Wednesday, August 29, 2018 (the date of publication) to answer questions you may have about what it’s like to be a science communicator, how he got into it, and sharks, of course! Connect with him in the comments, or on Twitter and Facebook (use #MySciComm so…

Read More

#Sketchyourscience a hit at #ESA100…so what?

#sketchyourscience at #ESA100 settled it. This will be an #ESASciComm tradition for years to come! pic.twitter.com/Ta8YIVo5BZ — B.G. Merkle talkin’ abt Hard Things 😷✊🏽 (@commnatural) August 17, 2015 At ESA’s annual conference/meeting (#ESA100) our section had a booth at which we encouraged folks to sketch their science. We were blown away by how many people enthusiastically did so.

Read More

A short guide to better PowerPoint presentations  

Written & illustrated by Simon J. Brandl I love conferences. But, during every scientific symposium I experience moments that leave me in stupefied disbelief. Why? At any given scientific conference innocent scientists are exposed to abysmally bad presentations. Since I’m unaware of a law that requires great science to be presented in a mind-blowingly boring way, this post highlights key…

Read More

6 More SciComm Resources

If you cruised through our SciComm resources and Multimedia SciComm Guide thinking, “Read that. Yep, read that. Read that, too…” here are a few more SciComm resources you can explore. Some are fairly recent, and some are ‘oldies but goodies.’

Read More

New Frontiers in Eco-Communication

Today in the Hyatt hallway, I passed a colleague with an imposing nametag terraced by four colors of ribbon. He is an ESA donor, a moderator, and two other things I can’t recall (possibly a juggler). This year my nametag has a ribbon, too. It’s a regular reminder that even though scicomm workshop 15 is done, my duty to communicate…

Read More

Multimedia SciComm Resource Guide

This resource guide is meant to inspire and empower – not only are there great examples, but we’ve provided practical advice about why, how, and when each media type can help you get your message across. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. Please review the license terms before reproducing. Our instructors and contributors…

Read More

Resources: Writing

*This list is dynamic, and in-development. Feel free to make suggestions (use the comments section or contact us directly) re additional resources and great examples that should be included. RESOURCES See the general scicomm resources page for tips and resources on writing about numbers and data, storytelling techniques, and a lot more. Science Writer’s Handbook + Pitch, Publish, Prosper blog Terms…

Read More

Warning: array_map(): Expected parameter 2 to be an array, null given in /home/esaorg/public_html/wp-content/themes/esa-main/inc/functions/nav_pagination.php on line 49