{"id":2819,"date":"2018-03-14T05:25:36","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T11:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancingecocomm.wordpress.com\/?p=2819"},"modified":"2018-03-14T05:25:36","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T11:25:36","slug":"inspiration-and-encouragement-for-new-and-potential-scicomm-ers-myscicomm-2017-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/2018\/03\/14\/inspiration-and-encouragement-for-new-and-potential-scicomm-ers-myscicomm-2017-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiration and Encouragement for New and Potential SciComm-ers: #MySciComm 2017 in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ESA2017training__forJLPretro\"

#MySciComm contributors had a lot to say in 2017 about how to get into, and get better at, scicomm and engagement. Trainings, like this \u201cImprov Your Science\u201d workshop at #ESA2017 facilitated by ESA chairperson-elect Annaliese Hettinger, were high on the list. Read on for more tips and resources from 2017 contributors. (Photo by Annaliese Hettinger)<\/p><\/div>\n

Retrospective by Jennifer Purrenhage, series co-editor and Communication and Engagement Section secretary<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Bethann Garramon Merkle\u2019s recent #MySciComm 2017 Year in Review<\/span><\/a> highlighted takeaways from our 2017 contributors on building human connections through scicomm.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I looked back on the 2017 #MySciComm contributions, an additional set of theme emerged from our contributors. They offered advice and encouragement for those of us looking to either up our communication and engagement \u00a0game or transition from an existing career path or position into a scicomm position. <\/span><\/p>\n

1. Start Now<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

You might imagine countless reasons for waiting, or perceived obstacles to getting started in scicomm. But our 2017 #MySciComm contributors reminded us of the importance of starting now and starting where you are. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Katie Burke<\/span><\/a> warned that she often gives the advice \u2018Start Writing,\u2019 but that people rarely act on it. Katie linked to online resources that can help scicommers pitch their writing to media outlets that she says are \u2018hungry for content.\u2019 <\/span>Katie Burke<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Kristina Young<\/span><\/a> both encouraged us to \u2018make the time\u2019 to create content because there will never be a <\/span>perfect<\/span><\/i> time<\/span>. <\/span>And they suggested that it likely won\u2019t take as long as we worry it will. <\/span>Will Chen<\/span><\/a> and I (<\/span>Jennifer Purrenhage<\/span><\/a>) urged aspiring scicommers to <\/span>stop aspiring<\/span><\/i> and just start <\/span>being<\/span><\/i> science communicators. Will suggested creating an example of your particular kind of scicomm and then testing it with family, friends, or even an online community. I reminded readers that there are opportunities to practice and do scicomm in our existing positions \u2014 we don\u2019t necessarily need to be somewhere or someone else to get started (and, in fact, we may have already started without realizing it!). Finally, <\/span>Virginia Schutte<\/span><\/a> offered a different, and valuable, perspective on \u2018getting started\u2019 when she discussed what it can be like to get on the job market for a scicomm position before you feel ready. <\/span><\/p>\n

2.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Get Training<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Good news! For those of us who are still resisting the \u2018Start Now\u2019 advice, perhaps we can justify waiting until we get some training. Our #2017 MySciComm contributors were huge proponents of training, and they provided general advice and links to specific resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look back at posts from <\/span>Shane Hanlon<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Megan Litwhiler<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Annaliese Hettinger<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Ariana Sutton-Grier<\/span><\/a> for links to some of their favorite scicomm resources and training opportunities, including a few that most everyone ranked at the top of their lists: <\/span>COMPASS<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>AGU<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>AAAS<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Rose Hendricks<\/span><\/a>\u2019 description of her experience with <\/span>ComSciCon<\/span><\/a> might be particularly interesting for our graduate-student readers. <\/span>Kristina Young\u2019s<\/span><\/a> post about communication through radio includes suggestions for radio-specific workshops and internships, and <\/span>Lucy Frisch<\/span><\/a> reminded us that we are not born storytellers and can benefit from specific training in this area too. <\/span>Bethann Merkle<\/span><\/a> recommended improving our visual communication skills\u2013drawing, graphic design, photography, graphs\/figures, and conference posters\u2013through training and practice, and she shared some of her favorite resources for enhancing visual communication skills. <\/span>Josh Silberg<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Greg Nickerson<\/span><\/a> reminded us to take stock of the skills and training we\u2019ve already acquired that might also serve us well in scicomm. And <\/span>Megan Litwhiler<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Ariana Sutton-Grier<\/span><\/a> suggested that formal trainings aren\u2019t the only way to improve our scicomm skills. Megan noted how much we can learn from colleagues at conferences and by visiting museums, and Ariana implored us to read everything we can about scicomm. One the scicomm books that Ariana mentioned will be featured in our <\/span>new Lit Review Series<\/span><\/a>, which we hope will help you triage your own scicomm reading list!<\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Find<\/strong> Your Role.<\/b><\/p>\n

Something we can already see, after one year of #MySciComm contributions, is the diversity of roles that people can and do play in science communication and engagement. Our 2017 contributors demonstrated this simply by sharing their stories. Many advised us to find our unique role by: looking for the gaps and filling them with our personal strengths and interests (<\/span>e.g.<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Kika Tuff<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Annaliese Hettinger<\/span><\/a>, <\/b>Priya Shukla<\/span><\/a>), acknowledging the communication and engagement skills we have been acquiring and honing all along (<\/span>e.g.<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Josh Silberg<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Sarah Chevalier Prather<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Jennifer Purrenhage<\/span><\/a>), and identifying our own style and individual contributions to diverse teams (<\/span>e.g.<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Diogo Verissimo<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Skylar Bayer<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Virginia Schutte<\/span><\/a>). <\/span><\/p>\n

Our 2017 #MySciComm contributors reminded us to be patient, persistent, and brave. <\/b><\/p>\n

They also discussed the concerns that some of us may have when transitioning from <\/span>doing<\/span><\/i> science to <\/span>communicating<\/span><\/i> science. We were reminded that doing scicomm is not mutually exclusive with doing science and teaching science. Choosing to do communication and engagement work does not mean that we are abandoning our training as scientists.<\/span><\/p>\n

What would you add to this list?<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retrospective by Jennifer Purrenhage, series co-editor and Communication and Engagement Section secretary Bethann Garramon Merkle\u2019s recent #MySciComm 2017 Year in Review highlighted takeaways from our 2017 contributors on building human connections through scicomm. As I looked back on the 2017 #MySciComm contributions, an additional set of theme emerged from our contributors. They offered advice and encouragement for those of us…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5470,"featured_media":2820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,2],"tags":[81,87,113,115,134,149,150],"class_list":["post-2819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-myscicomm","category-news-blog-scicomm-by-scientists","tag-handy-links","tag-inspiration","tag-resource","tag-resources-2","tag-series","tag-training","tag-transition-to-scicomm-career"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2819","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=2819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/communication-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}