You are browsing the archive for Michael McFadden, Author at The Plainspoken Scientist.
13 November 2013
Epic Fail: What a Perfectly Putrid Poster Can Do for You
After months, perhaps years, of fieldwork, lab work, and analysis, you have results that you simply have to share with the world. You’ve shelled out for your Fall Meeting registration. You’re stoked that your poster session doesn’t coincide with any of the talks you’ve marked as essential. And because your BFF has agreed to share accommodation costs, you have a suite at the Hotel Nikko. No one can deny that you’re as confident as a Kardashian and as primed for launch as a fully fuelled Titan rocket. Ain’t no stoppin’ you now!
20 June 2013
A geoscientist adds her voice to the policy conversation
The first question I am often asked when policymakers find out I am a geoscientist is “What do you think of fracking?” As a geodynamicist whose research focuses on subduction zones, this topic is clearly outside my specialized field of knowledge. Nevertheless, as a member of the geologic community my credentials lend extra weight to my opinion, and it is important that I have a well-informed answer and am able to communicate in a way that is both understandable and memorable.
13 June 2013
Emotional responses may open up common ground between people with different views on climate change, communication consultant says
The evidence for climate change and its impacts can make people feel threatened, arousing emotions a little like a hostile hippo might stir up, according to communications consultant Karen Raucher. But those uncomfortable reactions can also provide opportunities to connect with people about climate change issues, Raucher told scientists and others at a conference this week devoted to climate science communication.
12 June 2013
Tiny vocabulary spurs scientists’ verbal creativity
Here’s a challenge for scientists who want an eye-opening experience of what it takes to communicate in simple language: Give up 90-plus percent of the thousands of words you rely on in everyday life, but try nonetheless to convey the key concepts and ideas of your science.
That’s what about 30 scientists did last week at a science communication workshop offered by the American Geophysical Union. The workshop was part of the American Meteorological Society’s Summer Policy Colloquium.
The Plainspoken Scientist is the science communication blog of AGU’s Sharing Science program. With this blog, we wish to showcase creative and effective science communication via multiple mediums and modes.
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