{"id":1935,"date":"2017-06-28T07:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-06-28T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancingecocomm.wordpress.com\/?p=1935"},"modified":"2017-06-28T07:00:58","modified_gmt":"2017-06-28T13:00:58","slug":"myscicomm-josh-silberg-on-embracing-scicomm-skill-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/2017\/06\/28\/myscicomm-josh-silberg-on-embracing-scicomm-skill-development\/","title":{"rendered":"#MySciComm: Josh Silberg on embracing scicomm skill development"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, Josh Silberg responds to the #MySciComm questions!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ESA_SciComm_Josh

Josh Silberg holds a moon snail shell at Miracle Beach (Vancouver Island). Josh grew up in Calgary, Alberta \u2013 10 hours inland from the coast. Yet, Miracle Beach was where he fell in love with the ocean, after doing a beach seine with his grandma. (Photo by Jessica Silberg)<\/p><\/div>\n

Josh Silberg is a science communicator with the British Columbia-based <\/strong>Hakai Institute<\/strong><\/a>. In his previous life as a marine ecologist, he studied creatures ranging from dolphins to whale sharks to rockfish, but he likes to think that he has no species bias. He holds a Master\u2019s of Resource and Environmental Management from Simon Fraser University. He loves photography and any outdoor activity under the sun, or in the rain, or on the snow. Occasionally, he writes rhyming poems about biology. Connect with him <\/strong>@joshsilberg<\/strong><\/a> and on his <\/strong>website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The #MySciComm<\/a> series features a host of SciComm professionals. We\u2019re looking for more contributors<\/a>, so please get in touch<\/a> if you\u2019d like to write a post!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

Okay, Josh\u2026<\/span><\/h4>\n

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?<\/span><\/h4>\n

Searching for the right graduate program brought on a mini-existential crisis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Two years after finishing my undergraduate degree, I figured graduate school was the next logical step to develop a career. But there was a problem. I didn\u2019t know what career I was developing. I struggled to narrow down where I wanted to apply, because I couldn\u2019t answer a key question: what did I want to be when I grew up?<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a marine biologist!\u201d had been my answer since I was a kid. But in my undergrad years, I realized \u2018marine biologist\u2019 is more of an abstract thought than a single profession. I could be a research scientist, or work as a consultant, or do animal husbandry at an aquarium, or any number of other professions. \u2018Marine biologist\u2019 was no longer specific enough.<\/p>\n

I found a <\/strong>graduate program<\/strong><\/a> at Simon Fraser University that fit, mostly because it didn\u2019t narrow things down at all. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I was exposed to all sorts of disciplines. In addition to a research project, the courses ranged from economics to conflict management to public policy. I\u2019d call the program interdisciplinary, but that word is on Carl Zimmer\u2019s index of banned words<\/a>, for good reason.<\/p>\n

I eventually came to think of graduate school as skill development. <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the degree, per se, that leads to a job. Letters after your name only get you so far. What makes you stand out are the marketable skills you gain during your degree. Lucky for me, my supervisor encouraged extracurriculars.<\/p>\n

I attended social media and scientific writing workshops. I completed a non-credit certificate in university teaching and learning. I helped design and maintain our lab website. I participated in as many conferences as I could. I honed my photography abilities.<\/p>\n

All of these activities were instrumental to my transition to full-time science communications\u2014a career path I didn\u2019t even know existed before I began graduate school.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I finished my master\u2019s, the Hakai Institute<\/a>, who\u2019d supported me during my degree, was looking for someone to fill a broad science communications role. There wasn\u2019t a specific job description or job posting, but they had a sense they wanted someone doing dedicated communications work. It was a case of right place, right time.<\/p>\n

But to be in that place, I needed the array of science communication skills required for the job.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Skills that have proved valuable for my science communication job include: writing, editing, photography, public speaking, comfort using various social media platforms, networking, familiarity with website content management systems (e.g. WordPress), graphic design, teaching, improvising, and awareness of the evolving media landscape.<\/p>\n

Now, I write 500- to 1,000-word blogs to share the science stories emanating from the Hakai Institute. I handle the social media accounts on twitter<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, facebook<\/a>, and instagram<\/a>. I also upload content to our website, provide background scientific research for videos, handle media requests, give scicomm presentations, help design the occasional infographic, and whatever other communications tasks are needed. It\u2019s a broad position that is ever-evolving depending on the needs of the organization.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never be done trying to further develop my science communication skills.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I especially want to improve my ability to effectively teach scicomm skills to others. Thankfully, scicomm learning opportunities are becoming increasingly available for people at any experience level. From SciComm Camp<\/a> to Story Collider<\/a>, COMPASS<\/a>, and myriad other science communication groups, I\u2019m encouraged that science communication is becoming institutionalized as a key component of science.<\/p>\n

2) What are your top 3 SciComm tips and\/or resources?<\/span><\/h4>\n

1. Embrace metaphor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Science communication is like a translation service. You take a fieldwork description, an academic paper, or a research talk intended for one audience and translate it to another audience in a different medium. One way to do that is through metaphor. A well-devised metaphor can be a powerful translation tool across disciplines and audiences.<\/p>\n

But be careful to ensure your metaphor is apt. The overall meaning of the concept shouldn\u2019t change. I check complex metaphors with the scientists I\u2019m writing about to ensure they are accurate. If the metaphor is inexact, I brainstorm a better one with the scientist.<\/p>\n

2. Embrace why?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It can be interesting to learn what<\/em> type of science you worked on and how<\/em> you did it. But, an absolute focus on what<\/em> and how<\/em> won\u2019t captivate an audience if they have no idea why<\/em> you did it in the first place.<\/p>\n

The infamous \u201cshrimp treadmill\u201d experiment offers an example of an interesting what<\/em> backed by an even more intriguing why<\/em>. Those scientists weren\u2019t training shrimp for crustacean marathons. They were testing how an economically important seafood species will react to changing ocean conditions.<\/p>\n

Take a critical look at your scientific presentations, papers, and other outputs. Practice your presentation with people who represent your intended audience. Can your practice audience easily identify your why<\/em>? If what they identified doesn\u2019t match your intention, then discuss and make appropriate changes to make it clearer.<\/p>\n

3. Embrace critical editors<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two weeks into my master\u2019s degree, I sent a draft of a grant proposal to my supervisor. It came back absolutely covered in tracked changes. I knew first drafts aren\u2019t perfect, but I was shocked by the sheer quantity of proposed changes.<\/p>\n

The longer I worked with her, the more I appreciated her motto for a draft: \u201cthe redder, the better.\u201d Her take was that if you haven\u2019t put enough effort into your writing, it will be returned with a few vague comments. A draft covered in red ink signifies you put enough into the draft to be worth her valuable editing time.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not referring to reviewer #3 who arbitrarily nitpicks. That isn\u2019t constructive. I\u2019m talking about the noble editor that critically comments on your draft. Learn from their feedback. Disagree where you have to, but be open to suggestion. Be humble. Everyone needs a critical editor.<\/p>\n

Bonus: SciComm Pet Peeve<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do NOT ask a scientist to explain their research as if they\u2019re talking to their grandma. How do you know their grandma and all the other women in their life aren\u2019t badass scientists? There are better ways to encourage people to identify their intended audience without perpetuating biases. Imagine your fictional neighbors. Give them a backstory. Make them the archetype for your desired scicomm audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, Josh Silberg responds to the #MySciComm questions! Josh Silberg is a science communicator with the British Columbia-based Hakai Institute. In his previous life as a marine ecologist, he studied creatures ranging from dolphins to whale sharks to rockfish, but he likes to think that he has no species bias. He holds a Master\u2019s of Resource and Environmental Management…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5470,"featured_media":1949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,2],"tags":[62,87,113,115,120,150],"class_list":["post-1935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-myscicomm","category-news-blog-scicomm-by-scientists","tag-contributed-post","tag-inspiration","tag-resource","tag-resources-2","tag-scicomm-by-scientists","tag-transition-to-scicomm-career"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}