your #scicomm journey

by Prof Andy Miah

The START

science communication is a huge area with so many pathways for researchers. This page guides you to resources, readings and communities to help you think through and begin your journey.

CONSIDER

what are you learning that would be of value sharing to a wider audience? who do you need to connect with to further your goals as a science communicator? what are you values that inform your motivations to share what you learn?

steam not stem

science communication is a term that applies to all research areas, whether you come from philosophy, physics or any subject at all, the world needs you to share what you learn and some of the best science communicators don’t identify as scientists at all.

WHERE to begin

1) get your digital house in order

Gone are the days when your cv is just a document that sits on your computer gathering digital dust. think of your cv as a combination of your digital identities. pull together your profile in linked in, make it stand out, then progress to other environments, starting with the places you enjoy using. tiktok and instagram are content leaders, so if you’ve no other presence, take a look there.

2) create a strategy

You might think this is where you should begin, but I tend to think that you start with the fun stuff - always. so dive in to digital spaces, then start to build your strategy. a google sheet is a good way to do that. we’ve a template you can use, if you’d like. drop me a line at a.miah@salford.ac.uk

3) once you’ve completed step 1, send me a ‘connect request’ in linkedin and i’ll accept and add you to a community.

Introduce yourself to others, share what you’d like to be working on, and we’ll get things moving.

Not quite ready?

If you’re not quite ready to be public and out there, that’s fine. You’ve got a couple of options. Work on other aspects, like joining groups, but also set up a profile about an area that interests you in research/study terms. Build your identity through that content, even if you’re not the visible face of it. This can progress later.

explore more

If you’d like to learn more about the science behind science communication, here are some resources we keep growing.

Science & storytelling 

At the heart of science communication is the practice of story telling, so this is a great way to start thinking through what it is you’re doing. How do scientists tell stories about their work and how is digital media allowing the realisation of new kinds of storytelling? Here is some reading to get you started.

• Dahlstrom, M.F. (2014). Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences. PNAS 111, 13614–13620

• Gorke, A. and G. Ruhrmann (2003). "Public communication between facts and fictions: on the construction of genetic risk." Public Understanding of Science 12: 229-241.

• Liakopoulos, M. (2002). "Pandora's Box or panacea? Using metaphors to create the public representations of biotechnology." Public Understanding of Science 11: 5-32

• Turney, J. (1998). Frankenstein's Footsteps: Science, Genetics and Popular Culture. New Haven and London, Yale University Press.

• Van den Brul, C (2014). Crackle and Fizz: Essential Communication and Pitching Skills for Scientists. Imperial College Press.

• Wolf, M.J.P. (2012). Building Imaginary Worlds: the theory and history of subcreation. Routledge

The World of Science Communication & DIGITAL Media

Some would say that all science communication is digitally mediated today, even when it doesn’t seem to be. A lecture at a festival becomes a digital product as the audience shares what they learn, the event organizers promoted and engage audiences through digital environments, and the films from these events are often clipped as short videos for social media. However, the really exciting consideration is that being present on digital allows us to take control of the channels of communication. We can be the media now, we don’t need to rely on traditional media to reach out. Here are some readings which speak to that story…

• Bowman, S; Willis, C. (2003). We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information. Reston: The Media Center at the American Press Institute. http://hypergene.net/wemedia/download/we_media.pdf

• Burns, T. W., O'Connor, D. J. and Stocklmayer, S. M. (2003). Science Communication: A Contemporary. Public Understanding of Science 12; 183

• Gauntlett, G. (2011) Making is connecting, The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0. Cambridge Polity Press

• Miah, A. (2016) The A to Z of Social Media for Academia, Times Higher Education, Available online: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/a-z-social-media

• Zylinska, J. (2005) The Ethics of Cultural Studies, London, Continuum.

public involvement and citizen science 

When you dig a bit deeper into science communication, you begin to see that the reasons we do this have to do with our sense of responsibiilty to public involvement with science/research and motiviation is a huge part of why researchers get involved with such work. We are all citizens, with families, friends, and communities who need to discover knowledge from people who can be trusted. University researchers are especially important here and scientists are highly regarded and trusted. These beliefs in public involvement are also informing how we do science and the rise of citizen science is seen as one important way to do this

Projects that work within this theme examine and test the idea that science communication is most effective when the public are involved in the co-creation of knowledge. They will be designed around principles of co-development and involvement and you’ll likely want to work with communities and adopt methods of social scientific research.

• Arnason, V. (2012) Scientific citizenship in a democratic society, Public Understanding of Science, 22: 927

• Geoghegan, H., Dyke, A., Pateman, R., West, S. & Everett, G. (2016). Understanding motivations for citizen science. Final report on behalf of UKEOF, University of Reading, Stockholm Environment Institute (University of York) and University of the West of England

• Irwin, A. (1995). Citizen Science: A Study of People, Expertise and Sustainable Development. Psychology Press

• Reed, M.S (2016). The Research Impact handbook. Fast Track Impact

• Swinton, J., & Ochu, E., The MSI Turing’s Sunflowers Consortium (2016). Novel fibonacci and non-fibonacci structure in the sunflower: Results of a citizen science experiment. Royal Society Open Science 3(5).

• Woolley, P.J., McGowan M.L., Teare H. J. A, Coathup V., Fishman J.R., SetterstenJr R.A., Sterckx S., Kaye J. and Juengst E.T. (2016). Citizen science or scientific citizenship? Disentangling the uses of public engagement rhetoric in national research initiatives. BMC Medical Ethics 17:33

• ESCA Working Group (2015) Ten principles of citizen science. The European Citizen Science Association. A range of digital planning and prototyping tools will be provided to resource student participation in this module, including: https://crowdsourcing-toolkit.sites.usa.gov

The arts & SCIence COMMunication

So much of what we do in science communication relies on collaborative working and this means working across science and creative practice. At Salford, we love to develop projects that bring the arts closer to science communication and have worked with leading artists to produce some outstanding work and drawing inspiration and insight from many disciplines is a great way to expand your horizons on what science communication needs.

• Hauser, J. (2008). Observations on an art of growing interest: toward a phenomenological approach to art402 involving biotechnology. In: Da Costa B, Philip K (eds) Tactical biopolitics: art, activism, and403 technoscience. The MIT Press, Cambridge

• Miah, A. (2008). Human Futures: Art in an Age of Uncertainty

• Miller, A.I. (2014). Colliding worlds: how cutting-edge science is redefining contemporary art.406 W. W. Norton.

• Reichle, I. (2009). Art in the age of technoscience: genetic engineering, robotics, and artificial life in414 contemporary art. SpringerWein, New York Smith, Marquard. (2005). “Stelarc: The Monograph.” Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Science writing, backpack journalism, and mobile media  

Science writing and journalism are crucial components of the science communication ecosystem and developing a broad awareness of forms of journalism can be a really good way to start making your own content. If ever you are stuck for ideas, then take a look at the current news around your research and make thoughtful response videos to what’a happening.

• Ahmad, Ali Nobil. (2010). “Is Twitter a Useful Tool for Journalists?” Journal of Media Practice 11 (2): 145–55. doi:10.1386/jmpr.11.2.145_1.

• Kim, Yeojin, and Wilson Lowrey. (2014). “Who Are Citizen Journalists in the Social Media Environment?” Digital Journalism 811 (December 2014): 1–17. doi:10.1080/21670811.2014.930245.

• Maximilian Schäfer (2017). Science journalism and fact checking, Journal of Science Communication

• Shirkey, C. (2008) Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Penguin Books.

• Steensen, Steen, and Laura Ahva. (2014). “Theories of Journalism in a Digital Age: An Exploration and Introduction.” Journalism Practice 2786 (July 2015): 1–18. doi:10.1080/17512786.2014.928454.

Science communication as live performance  

With the proliferation of science festivals, science education programmes and the advent of broadcasting live via social media, the importance of live performances has grown considerably. A big part of your journey can involve working with the performance industries and formats to examine the contribution and presence of science communication. They might include working with theatre, film, or digital media to create a series of events or digital products that share science, or examine the industries that make up the science communication live circuit.

• Anderson, C. (2016). TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking. Headline

• AE Lesen, A Rogan, MJ Blum Science Communication Through Art: Objectives, Challenges, and Outcomes, Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2016). Elsevier

• Medina, J. (2009). Brain Rules. Pear Press Van den Brul, C. (2014). Crackle and Fizz: Essential Communication and Pitching Skills for Scientists. Imperial College Press

• Baram-Tsabari, A. & BV Lewenstein (2017). Preparing Scientists to Be Science Communicators, Preparing Informal Science Educators, 2017 – Springer

• Wilkinson, C. & Weitkamp, E. (2016). Creative Research Communication: Theory and Practice, Manchester University Press

• McGillion, C. & McKinnon, M. (2014). Participatory Theater as a Science Communication Tool in Timor Leste Science Communication

Global Challenges in Science Communication 

Science communication is not the same everywhere in the world, but is culturally, socially, and politically specific to place. Consider what the role of science communication may be in different settings and how it responds to key global challenges to help yourself set an agenda that matter.s

• Burri, R.V. (2009). Coping with Uncertainty: Assessing Nanotechnologies in a Citizen Panel in Switzerland, Public Understanding of Science, 18(5) 498-511.

• Cacciatore, M.A., Scheufele, D.A. & Corley, E.A. (2011). From Enabling Technology to Applications: The Evolution of Risk Perceptions About Nanotechnology, Public Understanding of Science, 20(3), 385-404.

• Dennett, D. (1978). Beliefs about beliefs. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1, 568–570.

• Dunbar, R. (2017). Cognitive and Network constraints in real life literature. Understanding Complex Systems. In Kenna, R., MacCarron, M., MacCarron, P. (Eds.) Maths Meets Myths: Quantitative Approaches to Ancient Narratives, Understanding Complex Systems Springer International Publishing Switzerland. pp 7-14.

• Dunne A. and Raby, D. (2013). Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. MIT Press.

• Habermas, J. (1996). Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. MIT Press

• Haraway, D. (1985). The Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature.

• Haraway, D. (2003). The Companion Species Manifesto. Prickly Paradigm Press, Chicago.

• Irwin, A. (1995). Citizen Science: A Study of People, Expertise and Sustainable Development. Psychology Press

• Miah, A. (2005). Genetics, cyberspace and bioethics: Why not a public engagement with ethics? Public Understanding of Science, 14: 409-421