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Intro to Inclusive Science Communication

UC Santa Barbara- November 13, 2023

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Jessica Tran, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

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Abha Panda

(she/her)

Conservation Sciences

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Jess Tran

(she/her)

Natural Resources

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Cuc Kim Vu

(she/her)

STEM Education

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Achala Narayanan

(she/her)

Plant and Microbial Biology

Risa Luther

(she/her)

Biological Anthropology

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We envision a fundamental shift in science communication whereby inclusion, equity, and intersectionality ground all research and practice.

-Canfield, Menezes et al (2020)

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Ways of knowing

  • Science communication often presents science from a westernized-view
  • Colonial origins of science and education

Native Governance Center

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Purpose

Audience

Format (Jargon)

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Purpose

Audience

Format (Jargon)

What are you trying to accomplish?

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Purpose

  • Target misinformation
  • Inform policy
  • Encourage young scientists
  • Inform public opinion & awareness
  • Be inclusive!

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Stop. Think. Write

5 minutes

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What is your goal for science communication?

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Consider your semester and capstone projects. What impact do you want your work to have?

It’s ok if this changes!

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Purpose

Audience

Format (Jargon)

Who are you trying to reach?

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Image Source: Jess Viers | The State News

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Stop. Think. Write

5 minutes

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Consider one or more audiences you want your work to connect with.

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What are 2-3 obstacles you may face in connecting with them?

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  • Trust
  • Identity
  • Framing

Overcoming obstacles between you and the audience:

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Overcoming obstacles: Trust

  • Active listening
  • Relationship building
  • Humor

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Overcoming obstacles: Identity

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  • Reframe the issue entirely!

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Overcoming obstacles: Framing

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Stop. Think. Write

5 minutes

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Earlier we identified potential obstacles we might face when trying to connect with an audience.

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How might you use trust, identity, or framing to over come it?

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Purpose

Audience

Format (Jargon)

How do you reach your target audience?

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Jargon:

The technical terminology of a specific group that is difficult to understand for those outside of the group

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“We need to do a echocardiogram to diagnose your idiopathic arrhythmia.”

“We need to do a heart ultrasound to diagnose your irregular heart beat, which currently lacks a clear cause.”

jargon:

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The “degree of translation” depends on your audience.

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Technique 1: Rephrasing

Sometimes, jargon can be rephrased to just describe what the word means

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"The relative increases or decreases in precipitation translated into even larger relative increases or decreases in flood peaks, due to the nonlinear nature of the rainfall-runoff process” (Markus et al. 2012).

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Practice: Rephrasing

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Technique 2: Definition

The term may be really important to include, especially if it will be repeated

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"The relative increases or decreases in precipitation translated into even larger relative increases or decreases in flood peaks, due to the nonlinear nature of the rainfall-runoff process” (Markus et al. 2012).

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Practice: Definition

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Technique 3: Omission

It might be best to leave it out

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"The relative increases or decreases in precipitation translated into even larger relative increases or decreases in flood peaks, due to the nonlinear nature of the rainfall-runoff process” (Markus et al. 2012).

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Practice: Omission

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Format

Written Op Eds, Blogs, Social Media

Visual YouTube, Story Maps, Infographics

Audio Podcasts, Live performance

Public Advocacy, Public Comment

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bit.ly/LEADfloodmap

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Image Source: City of Minneapolis

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Additional Misc. Resources to consider

  • If you’re writing in a word doc, check the Flesch Reading Ease score and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level to see how accessible your writing is.
    • Info about it (https://readable.com/readability/flesch-reading-ease-flesch-kincaid-grade-level/)
    • How to find this feature in Microsoft Word (https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/get-your-document-s-readability-and-level-statistics-85b4969e-e80a-4777-8dd3-f7fc3c8b3fd2)

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  • If you want to practice writing more clearly, XKCD Simple Writer is a free online tool that let’s you input text and it highlights any words that are not a part of the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language.
    • Practice explaining your work on it! It can help flag which terms may be jargony or give you new ideas on how to explain your work.
    • URL: https://xkcd.com/1133/

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Purpose

Audience

Format (Jargon)

Questions?�Jessica Tran tran1185@umn.edu�University of Minnesota, PhD student

Science Communication Lab