By Linda Lamb
Andrew Thurber is a post-doc at our college with skills in outreach. Since coming to OSU in 2011, he contacted Mark Floyd for two press releases and skillfully framed them (how the most abundant lifeform on the Earth fits in the food chain and how a new species of crab ‘farms’ hydrothermal vents).
Our College did an article on his research about life beneath the ice in Antarctica. I learned at a recent OSU Storytellers meeting that Terra is interested in doing a story that includes gorgeous underwater photography from his blog.
I asked Andrew to give a noontime seminar to CEOAS investigators (April 19, Burt 193), telling about his outreach activities and allowing plenty of time for Q&A. Jack Barth, Associate Dean of Research, will introduce him and speak about the importance of outreach.
Ideas on how you cultivate a culture of outreach among investigators are very welcome.
By Naomi Hirsch
Recently I joined The Science Deficit Model group on Mendeley. This is the first time I used this software, and I think it’s a great way to create a collaborative set of resources on a specific topic of interest and need.
This group holds the resources for the 2013 ScienceOnline session “Why Won’t the Science Deficit Model Die?” The deficit model of science is the idea that the public has a “knowledge deficit” that affects perceptions of science and scientists. The group is open to the public.
White papers, literature reviews, and articles related to the issues of communicating science are valuable. I hope we can contribute to the science and make a difference to our peers. My ultimate goal is to build science literacy so we have healthy and strong communities. Perhaps I will be creating a Mendeley group soon. How about you?
On January 31-Feb. 4, Terra Research Magazine and the Environmental Health Sciences Center sponsored a ScienceOnline Watch Party to bring the 7th annual international meeting on Science and the Web to OSU. 50 people registered on-line and a post-survey supported the continuation of professional development, training and resources related to communicating science at Oregon State University. We decided to form a group that could steer efforts and create opportunities.
The First Meeting was Thursday, March 21, 2013. In attendance were Naomi Hirsch, Nick Houtman, Linda Lamb, Kaci Buhl, Tiffany Woods
Linda Lamb – Research Publishing and Outreach Manager in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science (CEOAS)
Naomi Hirsch – Communications Coordinator for two NIH-funded Centers: EHSC and SRP
Kaci Buhl – Project Coordinator for the National Pesticide Information Center (within the EMT Dept.)
Nick Houtman – Editor of Terra Research Magazine
Tiffany Woods – News Leader, Extension & Experiment Station Communications Office
Works with a large team. Examples of types of work include:
Importance and Challenges of Producing Visuals.
Importance of training and supporting Grad students.
Demands are increasing for more engagement, outreach, storytelling
Build skills in framing stories that support the OSU Brand (Attend April 25 10:30 – noon IMC Network Meeting)
Learn how best to talk about science in a regulatory or policy context
Share innovative Ways to do “Broader Impacts” to impact Science Literacy
Steer faculty to the ½ day media training with University Research Communications offered quarterly
Understand the impact of language when talking about scientific research (Normative Science article got much discussion in Terra)
How can OSU Science Communicators come together and support STEM and the new Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning?
Organize and use this blog to share resources, presentations, and books that support professional development on campus
Create a list of software and communication tools that would be helpful to OSU Science Communicators who work in “silos” like Pachyderm, software to narrate slide shows, etc.
