To kick off the weekend workshop COMM5660, there is a panel of professionals who communicate science with various publics, in many forms.

Join a panel of speakers to be inspired about how as a graduate student or postdoc you could take advantage of opportunities to engage in communication of your research, science in general, and best of all, share your passion with public audiences! Q&A and informal discussion will follow.

Learn about the wide range of opportunities for incorporating public engagement and science communication in your professional activities. Speakers will share how they got into science communication, reasons why they continue to do so, opportunities and challenges integrating communication activities as a doctoral student or postdoc. The panelists will also share specific skill to work on that are useful elsewhere, and goals they have for future science communication activities. There will be opportunities to ask questions of the panelists and informal discussion will follow.

This public panel session kicks off the COMM5660 weekend 1 credit workshop led by Bruce Lewenstein, Professor of Science Communication and Cornell Ombuds.

Panelists

Steve Strogatz, Winokur Distinguished Professor of Public Understanding of Science and Mathematics

Lisa Kaltenegger, Associate Professor of Astronomy and Director, Carl Sagan Institute

Michelle Kortenaar from the Sciencenter

Facundo Torres, PhD student in microbiology, science rapper

About COMM 5660

Starting with an in-person public panel discussion on Opportunities for Public Communication of Science, this weekend workshop trains researchers in the sciences (including natural sciences, engineering, experimental social sciences, etc.) to communicate effectively with nonscientists such as policy makers, political stakeholders, the media, and the general public. The public panel discussion on Opportunities in Science Communication kicks off the COMM 5660 course and is held Friday 4:30-6:30pm. This session is open to the public.

Learn about the range of opportunities for public engagement and ways to integrate public engagement with your other professional activities. The speakers will share how they got into science communication, reasons why they continue to do so, opportunities and challenges of integrating communication activities with other professional activities, specific skills to work on that are useful elsewhere, and goals they have for future science communication activities. There will be opportunities to ask questions of the panelists and informal discussion will follow.

All events will take place in Warren Hall 101

4:30pm Friday Opportunities for Public Communication of Science panel discussion, followed by
6:00(ish) pm Informal discussion

If you’ve enrolled in COMM 5660:

9-5 Saturday COMM 5660 continues with writing science for the public, developing and writing your own stories, a presentation on Integrating communication with your graduate research, discussion of pictures and video, and learning about the science communication system
9-5 Sunday COMM 5660 continues with re-writing press releases/blog posts following critique, developing and delivering media messages with guest speaker from Cornell Media Relations, being interviewed, science policy

Accessibility Requests

We strive to make our events accessible to all community members. Individuals who would like to request accessibility accommodations should contact gradcareers@cornell.edu. We ask that requests be made at least one week in advance to help ensure they can be met.

Starting with a public panel discussion on Opportunities for Public Communication of Science, this weekend workshop trains researchers in the sciences (including natural sciences, engineering, experimental social sciences, etc.) to communicate effectively with nonscientists such as policy makers, political stakeholders, the media, and the general public. Training activities may include role-play, mini lectures, reading/discussion, hands-on writing blog posts and other outreach materials, real-time practice being interviewed for the media, and discussion with invited speakers. Several guest speakers will be featured throughout the weekend. The below public panel discussion on Opportunities in Science Communication kicks off the COMM 5660 course and is held Friday 4:30-6:30pm. The weekend workshop runs 9-5pm Saturday and Sunday. Lunch is on your own. Must attend all three sessions for credit.

Learning Objectives:

After participating in this workshop, students will be able to:

Discuss science communication opportunities, both within traditional scientific careers and as standalone careers
Begin identifying characteristics of potential audiences for science communication
Write drafts of short texts (such as blog posts, tweets, and similar items) for non-scientific audiences
Begin planning for media interviews
Discuss social, ethical, and scholarly issues associated with science communication
Credit:
To get credit for the class you must attend all sessions. Enroll now via class roster. If past the add/drop deadline, please email Susi Varvayanis (sv27@cornell.edu) with your Cornell netID.

Testimonial:

“One of the most engaging Careers Beyond Academia/BEST experiences for me was a science communication workshop that I attended taught by Bruce Lewenstein. This was an excellent crash course on science communication and forced me to think through how the public receives and perceives scientific news and how I could best communicate my own work to the public without over complicating it.”-Felicity Emerson, Biomedical and Biological Sciences

Supported by Cornell’s Department of Communication and Careers Beyond Academia in the Graduate School.