By Shane M Hanlon

There are many reasons that scientists (should & do) choose to share their work outside of their field. Sometimes it’s required, e.g. if you have an NSF grant. Sometimes it’s to affect change in the policy realm if you want to talk to a legislator. And sometimes it’s just to increase the visibility of your work and/or to improve public knowledge of science. There are many ways to share science in any of these situations; however, if you really want to get your work out to the broadest possible audiences, sharing it with journalists is usually the way to go.

When we talk to fellow scientists about who to share their work with and how to do it, journalists are a unique audience. You’re not only talking to that one reporter but then they, depending on their organization and mode of media (e.g. print, radio, TV), share it with tens, hundreds, thousands, even millions of members of the public. It is for this reason that we in the Sharing Science program identify the media as an especially important group to which you can share your science. And, depending on the outlet, we have some quick tips and materials that we’d like to share!

These are just a few of the many resources we have! Please find them all at our website!

-Shane M Hanlon is an AGU Sharing Science Specialist