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12 October 2018
Sharing stories of consensus building: the missing step in the scientific method
By Kathy Kelsey As a kid in school, I learned the narrative of the scientific method: a scientist makes an observation about the world which inspires a question, they pose a hypothesis, carry out an experiment, and produce and share their results. Now that I am a practicing scientist I have learned that this narrative neglects a key component: the process of building consensus among scientists. It’s important that we …
12 September 2018
Talking health might shift attitudes on global warming
By Shane M Hanlon Global warming is a political issue. It shouldn’t be, but it is. I recently wrote a post about it that outlined political views on the subject, probably best summarized by this1: Takeaway: majority of folks think that global warming is happening but views vary widely based on political affiliation. You might ask, “Yeah, but there are a bunch of different people in political parties. What about …
11 September 2018
Share your field pictures w/ us (on Tumblr)!
As some of you might be aware, we have a (freaking awesome) Instagram account that features many of our scientists showing us their field sites, labs, outreach activities, etc. (if you’re not aware, you should really check it out). In addition to Instagram, we like to feature scientists in the field via our Postcards from the Field campaign through our Tumblr account. where scientists share stories and photos from their field experiences.
10 September 2018
A Voice for All Part II: Creating Space for All Voices
In academia we are taught to think critically, seek answers through scientific inquiry, publish results in peer-reviewed journals, and present significant findings to colleagues at conferences. We are not taught to listen with compassion, lead across scales in areas of research, project management and support, and support diversity and inclusivity.
4 September 2018
A Voice for All Part I: Cultivating Leadership, Diversity and Inclusivity in Academia
There are distinct moments in life that open our hearts and minds to listening, and motivate us to become better scientists, teachers, administrators, and advocates. In these moments we must not underestimate our individual and collective ability to make our world a better place.
30 August 2018
Art asks questions, science seeks answers
This post is adapted from a post in a sister blog here. By Adam Swanson Science and art are deeply related. Both involve looking hard at what is around us: taking time to observe and collect information to filter through brains. Art asks questions, science seeks answers. I have been drawing and painting since I was a child. I studied art in college and took it with me everywhere afterward. In …
14 August 2018
“Eggos rock…Iggy Azalea rocks…IG-KNEE-US rocks?”- In Celebration of International Youth Day
This post was originally posted on our From the Prow blog here. By Claudia Corona When you’ve been a student for longer than you’ve been able to tie your shoes, and when you’ve been uttering words that would be considered a gem on a Scrabble board for at least a quarter of your life, you gain special powers of scientific enunciation which should be used for good. Such thoughts dawned on me …
2 August 2018
American (voter) attitudes on climate change are complex
Americans have strong feelings about climate change. In addition to political affiliation, it turns out that how old you are can influence the degree to which you accept human-influenced clinate change
30 July 2018
The Message Behind Science
By Sriparna Saha “You are so creative.” I cease to remember the number of times this label has been attached to me. I’ve always had an innate passion towards art but when the time came to choose a profession, I chose to pursue science. Some people m ight argue that science and creativity are disparate entities, but I believe that science is rooted in creativity and runs on imagination. Creativity in science …
25 July 2018
Black Lung Disease is Making a Come-Back
This is part of a series of posts from our own Shane Hanlon’s disease ecology class that he’s currently teaching at the University of Pittsburgh Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. Students were asked to write popular science posts about (mostly) wildlife diseases. Check out all the posts here. By Victoria Wright Black lung disease is making a come-back. Characterized by shortness of breath and hypoxemia, a recent NPR article explains that not only are …
The Plainspoken Scientist is the science communication blog of AGU’s Sharing Science program. With this blog, we wish to encourage scientists to reach out to non-scientists and to do so with plainspoken discussion.
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