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13 May 2013
Picture This: Visuals and your Research
A striking image can spark interest in your scientific research, but the picture itself doesn’t need to be informative—in fact, it might be better if it isn’t. That’s one bit of wisdom that veteran science communicators from the news media and science institutions such as NASA shared with an audience Tuesday afternoon at the National Research Council in Washington, D.C.
25 March 2013
A cool tool from NASA: the science visualization wall
Blogger Dan Satterfield, who writes Dan’s Wild Wild Science Journal on the AGU Blogosphere, recently blogged about one of NASA’s dynamic visual tools – the science visualization wall – for displaying colorful scientific imagery. Satterfield visited the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., where he snapped several photos and took one video of the vivid wall, which is as tall as an adult. See the photos and watch the video on his blog.
12 November 2012
Alan Alda says science and romance aren’t so different
“What’s hard to say?” This was Alan Alda’s first question to an audience full of particle physicists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory on October 25. Alda’s talk, “Helping the Public Get Beyond a Blind Date with Science,” started by evoking the types of conversations, both personal and professional, that leave us fumbling for the right words.
26 July 2012
AGU Video: Impartial observers in space: Four decades of Landsat images both delight and inform
We all know that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ and in a world where most of us are bound to the Earth (astronauts being the most obvious exception), the Landsat images have the power to convey Earth science in a unique way. More than just pretty pictures, these images inform scientists, farmers, teachers, firefighters, water resource managers, and others about our planet from a vantage point several hundred miles above the Earth.
15 March 2012
Three minutes to be like Sagan: Competition seeks short bits on science
Prove you’re the next Carl Sagan in three minutes or less. Now, go! That’s what young scientists, engineers and aspiring PhDs in the United States are being called to do – move an audience the way Sagan could, but in three minutes or less. Friday morning, a group of young speakers gathered at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., to give it a try.
23 January 2012
AGU Video: As their film debuts at Sundance, scientists call for simple, personal tales
Photographer and AGU member James Balog urges scientists to “show us the cool stuff” when communicating with non-scientists. Balog, the subject of the documentary film “Chasing Ice,” premiering Jan. 23 at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, stopped by AGU headquarters in Washington, D.C., in early January to talk about the challenges and rewards of being a scientist-communicator.
10 November 2011
From The S Factor Blog: Know Your Audience
Over the next few blog posts, I will be sharing some tips to aid our up-and-coming scientist-filmmakers in planning, developing, and executing better video storytelling. Some of the tips will be theoretical in nature, while others will focus on the technical craft of filmmaking. Today, we will discuss a critical component to developing effective media: Targeting an Audience.
29 July 2010
Recognizing science 'ignorance' as value differences
If people don’t agree with a scientist’s conclusions, is it because they don’t understand the science? Or is it that their beliefs and values make them want to reject the scientist’s conclusions? Journalist and author Chris Mooney presented those questions in Washington D.C. in late June while discussing the findings of an American Academy of Arts and Sciences inquiry into how scientists could better communicate with the public. Beginning in …
8 July 2010
Scientists: Don‘t ask what Hollywood can do for you. Ask what you can do for Hollywood
Jennifer Ouellette is a busy woman: besides working on the launch of her third book, The Calculus Diaries, blogging for Discovery’s Twisted Physics, and maintaining the popular Cocktail Party Physics blog, she is the director and spokeswoman for the Science and Entertainment Exchange, an initiative that aims to match volunteer scientists with Hollywood producers and writers who want to make their storylines more scientifically accurate. This blogger for the The …
21 May 2010
Lessons for scientists from the artistic process
A perennial concern for those interested in science communication is figuring out how to engage the public while still providing an accurate window into the world of science. Dan Pearce, a former NASA aerospace engineer and an artist, thinks one strategy can hit both of those marks. His solution? “Make [the scientific process] human.” “I think the (general public) has this mythical image of the scientist as this superhuman creature, …
The Plainspoken Scientist is an AGU blog on science communication, for scientists. With this blog, we at AGU wish to encourage scientists to reach out to the public and to do so with plainspoken discussion.
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