Have you ever gotten tongue-tied trying to explain your research project to your parents? Or heard a scientific talk that was more acronyms than explanations? Well you’re not alone- we all have! Scientists have a way of talking to each other with each field having its own specific jargon, and that’s great because we need that when we’re in scientific spaces, but it’s not very helpful when grandma asks what we do every day. That’s where SciComm comes in. SciComm, which is short for Science Communication is an emerging field that gives spaces for scientists to explain their work in a way that is understandable to everyone, regardless of their prior knowledge on the subject. SciComm is unique and serves a major role in society because it encourages open communication between scientists and the rest of the world so everybody can understand the science that affects our lives and drives our scientific advancements.
To get an insider perspective, we interviewed Kerry Silva McPherson, a PhD candidate studying molecular biology and biochemistry and an active member of the SciComm community on how she got into SciComm and what she hopes to gain from it. Last year Kerry created Bolded Science, a collaborative blog that gives scientists of all career stages a voice and a chance to practice writing for a non-scientific audience. On Bolded Science grad students, research technicians, or undergrads can write about their research, a scientific topic of interest to them, or even about life as a scientist to get published on the site. What a great way to get your writing out there! Plus, it can help other researchers and non-researchers better understand your topic. SciComm is an all- around win-win! Bolded Science has published several blog posts on topics like what a porosome is, the Covid-19 pandemic, and racism in science.
SciComm can become its own career by monetizing blogs, vlogs, or working for a company or it can provide skills heavily emphasized in other roles such as in science policy or medical affairs. It can also be a fun hobby that lets people outside of science see into our little world. SciComm can take any form of communication: from podcasts and video to blogging and art. Anything that turns science from heavy with jargon to light and enjoyable is SciComm. The SciComm mission is simply to make science more accessible to all and show that science isn’t scary. So if you’re currently a scientist, ditch the alphabet soup sometime and try your hand at writing for a general audience. If you’re not a scientist- check out some science blogs and who knows what you may find. Just remember, behind every brilliant scientific discovery there’s the dumb questions we had to ask to reach it. There’s no shame in not knowing and we all have to start somewhere.
So here’s an idea- start with checking out Bolded Science! If you’re interested in writing for Bolded Science or just super into science, head to www.BoldedScience.com and check it out!
Watch the full interview on our ‘Recorded events and interviews’ page.
Written by Christina R Miles | Graduate Assistant
Biomedical Sciences PhD Program| UConn Health
