Jacob Wheaton (left), a Ph.D. student in materials science and engineering and member of the 2024 science communicators program, chats with a group about creating energy sources for all our technology. At the Reiman Gardens' "Meet a Scientist" event in May, he demonstrated using plants (lemons) and glass (melted candy) to find more sustainable ways to make batteries. Photo courtesy of Reiman Gardens.
Campus scientists who'd like to be better at sharing their research with non-academics -- K-12 students and teachers, farmers, local government leaders, nonprofit funders, for example -- might consider Reiman Gardens' science communication training program. It consists of monthly half-day sessions from January to May, individual mentoring in between and participation in two public science programs for "practice."
"This is about making science more accessible to the public by communicating more clearly about your work," said Sara Merritt, director of education at Reiman Gardens who leads the training. A second goal is to open more eyes to science careers.
NSF model
The training uses a National Science Foundation-funded model, "Portal to the Public." Sara Merritt and entomology assistant/project co-lead Anita Westphal were trained as science communication trainers at NSF grant-recipient Pacific Science Center, Seattle, in 2015. Reiman Gardens offered its first science communications training that year, and Merritt said it's refined a bit every year.
"Who's a scientist? Who can be a scientist? They're people like everyone else. That's what we want people to understand when they talk to a scientist," she said.
Any variety of Iowa State scientist in any field of science or engineering may enroll in the program: researchers, faculty, post docs and graduate students.
"They're the experts in their field. We're the experts at translating that and communicating with public audiences," Merritt said.
Training techniques include storytelling, gamification, inquiry as a teaching tool and other science education methods. Scientists are challenged to adapt a different vocabulary, adjust for the age group they're with and learn how to connect with their audience on a personal level. As part of the program, participants develop tabletop activities they can share with audiences to illustrate a concept from their work.
"Scientists' language gets more and more specialized every year they're in it," Merritt said. "We hope this program reminds them why they got into their field in the first place -- a curiosity about something -- and helps them convert that into a presentation that excites their audience," Merritt said.
Applications for the training program are due Nov. 30, and the program fee is $200, which may be paid with a department worktag. The program accepts up to a dozen scientists each year.
