Getting started in science communication
Man rolling up his sleeve
_____________________________________________________________________________
I help researchers start impactful and satisfying research programs, without the overwhelm or fear of failure. Click here to find out more.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Last week I used a talk I attended by Dr. Aarron Carroll to make the case that all scientists are in fact science communicators. This week I recognize that this seems simple in theory, but for those of you who have not had occasion to “communicate” with non-academics regularly before this maybe a little terrifying.
We have all seen examples of academics getting attacked online and even having their physical safety threatened after speaking up about one topic or another. These threats are real, but at the same time don’t represent the realities faced by most academics who engage with external audiences.
I have worked in Mississippi for more than a decade and have spent a significant amount of that time working outside of the walls of the University engaging directly with people in communities from around the entire state. In all these visits three things have always remained the case:
1) People realize they need and desperately want the knowledge and information trapped behind the walls of higher education institutions. The people in our communities face enormous problems every day, and they know academics have knowledge, skills, and abilities that could help them. Even in cases where communities have had bad experiences in the past, 9 times out of 10 we’ve still been welcomed back to find ways to help.
2) People are much more willing to accept ambiguity and nuance in research findings than we give them credit for. Most people, most places understand that knowledge is built slowly over time and that it is evolving. What they don’t appreciate is being told one thing and then having that knowledge completely overturned. That means it is on us to be honest about what we know right now, and what we don’t know yet.
3) People still must make decisions real time, despite understanding that knowledge is evolving. Academics have the privilege of “living a life of the mind”, as they say. But the communities we are a part have problems that need solutions today (even if they aren’t the best ones yet). So, we give our community partners the best available information we have and empower them to make the decision that is going to meet their needs today, while continuing to pursue big T truth.
And because we’ve been dialed into the universe this past week, Dr. Carroll also came out with a new post in Substack about science communication. Check it out here for more specific details about how you can start your science communication journey. But I want to spend the remainder of this post on an idea he outlines early in his post where he says, “Our job is not to tell people what to believe or what decisions they must make. It is to explain what the evidence shows, where it is strong, where it is limited, and why it matters.”
This is the hardest part of beginning a science communicator. Given our training and knowledge, it becomes tricky to break apart what we know about the science and how we make decisions for ourselves or our families using that knowledge. Just like everyone else in the world our knowledge and insights are limited by our own experiences and perspectives in the world. We certainly know a lot about our respective areas of expertise, but that DOES NOT mean we know a lot about the communities or people we are working with and what they are facing daily. A key part of being a successful science communicator is understanding and accepting our own limitations, recognizing that we don’t always get the complete picture of what went into a communities’ decision, and that sometimes despite the evidence people will make a decision that seems wrong from our point of view.
Happy communicating!
(Words: 628)
_____________________________________________________________________________
Not sure what you need? Complete this 3-minute survey to see if I can help.