Science Communication

Science communication can be a tricky subject to both learn and talk about. Most scientific findings are not easily accessed by the public. At its most basic definition, scientific communication is all about making your research and your findings available across the board. Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer sees it as simply “one person transmitting science-related information to another, from peer-reviewed articles to tweets,” as she wrote in a blog post. Blogs are becoming more common in the scientific community as there is a push towards getting results out to the general public. By opening these channels and allowing communication between all of the different scientific disciplines and even between the scientists and non-scientists, there is more understanding, more support, and more informed choices being made.

However, Rhonda Smith and Alexandra Ruete have a differing opinion from Feliú-Mójer’s take on what science communication means. To them, it is being able to communicate your findings and experiments with non-experts. Only talking to specialists in your field is just simply not enough any longer. Being able to effectively relay and express any results to others that may not be professionals in that certain area is becoming a skill deemed invaluable by many.

Science communication is important to both researchers and the general public. Research is usually funded by the people in a community that have a concern or interest in the topic being looked into. By showing the public what their money is going towards, the scientists are guaranteeing they will continue to be supported in future endeavors. On the other hand, the people also have a right to know what is being discovered in their communities. When everyone is privy to the knowledge scientists have found, the community as a whole can make a decision that best aids them.

This type of communicating is quite different from the usual scientific dissemination, which is another way of relaying information. Dissemination is the typical way that scientists report their results, through journals and scholarly papers that are published. Scientific communication, however, informs society. It addresses several different audiences in different areas around the world. Most of the people reading a dissemination are either other experts or have a background in the subject being discussed. The general public has a curiosity as well, and usually wishes to be involved in the conversation.

One such person trying to get into the discussion is Alan Alda. “Everyone is too ignorant about science. That is what science is about: Science is about satisfying the ignorance we all naturally possess,” Alda says. This comment is about how humans have this natural tendency to try and understand things. To him, to properly and effectiviely communicate with one another, there must be a mutual respect of that ignorance and curiosity. Getting the public excited and engaged in the research is easily the most important aspect of scientific communication. When people want to know about science, the scientists job becomes simpler and more effective.

As a science student coming up in this age of available knowledge, there are many challenges ahead. One of them being how to make your work and your voice important. There are several other people writing blogs about their own research, probably even some people doing the same types of research. Learning to effectively communicate with some experts in the other fields, and even non-scientists, is a skill that will draw people in and intrigue them. In order to do this, knowing and listening to the target audience is necessary. Being creative in the communication and focusing on the science when relaying the message will attract people naturally (Cooke, Gallagher, Sopinka, Nguyen, Skubel, Hammerschlag, Boon, Young, & Danylchuk, 2017). The main problem in the use of science communication is how the message is received. If the body of work is stale and uninteresting, no one will finish reading it or come back for more later on. On the other hand, there should not be so much flair that the actual data becomes lost in the writing.

Another issue that can quickly rise from this new idea of communication comes about when people that have no background in an area or any evidence to support their claims will be believed without a second thought. Most people do not actually check where their source came from or even if the source’s results can be backed up, they usually only care that their opinion is being voiced in a seemingly scientific way.

Looking at other blogs, one can gain some understanding and insight into how this communication is shaping and changing the scientific community. The blog Your Wild Life features several different collaborators, all of whom bring their own views. While these viewpoints may differ at times, the common theme that should be noted is the combined effort to bring scientific journals to the general public. One entry, titled Microbial partners of crop plant agro-biodiversity, actually takes a journal article, analyzes it, and breaks it down so others can understand what is going on and why they should care. 

Overall, science communication is an important aspect in bringing about changes to the world. Effective communication is the way to get the world to care about the research that effects everyone from every country. This is not only about getting the public’s attention, other fields of work also need to come together and share their work. This is how to get the general public engaged and involved with the scientific community.

References

ANU TV. (2016). Alan Alda: Science Communication. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0m4iDiTeto

Cooke SJ, Gallagher AJ, Sopinka NM, Nguyen VM, Skubel RA, Hammerschlag N, Boon S, Young N, and Danylchuk AJ. 2017. Considerations for effective science communication. FACETS 2, 233–248. doi:10.1139/facets-2016-0055

EU Science & Innovation. (2017). What is Science Communication? – The EU Guide to Science Communication. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E8rXg3Nv7U

Feliú-Mójer, M. I. (2015). Effective Communication, Better Science [Blog post]. Retrieved January 21, 2019, from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/effective-communication-better-science/