The Communication of Science/The Science of Communication

Recently, Tom Bartlett (of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Percolator blog) asked “Is Evolution a Lousy Story?” He reviews the work of Dan McAdams on storytelling and its role in helping humans make sense of their lives. Evolution is a tough concept to understand through story, McAdams claims, because “there is no protagonist, no motivation, no purpose.” Bartlett points out that evolution has pretty tough competition in the drama of the creation story, featuring some strong plotting and “heroes, villains, nudity” – not to mention a few centuries of repetition and familiarity.

What’s a scientist to do? It turns out that communicating scientific knowledge in a compelling manner is getting lots of attention.  From the grant-getting PI who asks “What story are we telling in this application?” to the physicians we see regularly on the evening news, many scholars are thinking about how to communicate effectively and clearly.  Take climate change as an example:  Why do so many scientists agree and so much of the public disbelieves that climate change is occurring?

According to Richard C. J. Somerville and Susan Joy Hassol, authors of  “Communicating the science of climate change” the problem originates in the fundamentally different ways scientist and non-scientists communicate.  Science communication begins with the background, provides supporting details, and then supplies the results and conclusions.  (Show of hands: how many of you read the last page or two of a scientific article first, then go back to the start?) Somerville and Hassol recommend starting with the “bottom line”, explaining why the public should care, and then providing the supporting details.

Their other recommendations include:

1. Put scientific findings into context – listeners don’t always have the basic understanding of a topic, so establishing some baseline of shared knowledge is helpful
2. Use metaphors, analogies, and points of reference
3. Anticipate common misunderstandings
4. Make your message “simple but memorable”, personal, and immediate
5. Let your passion show
6. Pair up with a professional communicator – a journalist, storyteller, or marketer – to help craft your story
7. Practice, practice, practice.

Need more advice on crafting a scientific message for a wider audience? Read Randy Olson’s Don’t be such a scientist: talking substance in an age of style. Olson left a career as a professor of marine biology for film-making and also has some simple and direct advice for communicating more effectively.  He draws from the fields of acting, mass communication, storytelling, and film production to suggest methods for crafting a more accessible message. Olson sums up the scientist’s task fairly simply: get “out of your head, into your heart . . . with humor, and, ideally, . . .  sex appeal.”  For most people, effective communication involves telling them why to care and helping them care because they like you.  Maybe that’s difficult because it’s just SO unscientific!

Why bother? Because you’ll educate and persuade, but you’ll also empower your audience: “People like it when they understand something that they previously thought they couldn’t understand. It’s a sense of empowerment.” (Neil Degrasse Tyson)

[Lynne M. Fox, Education Librarian]

BioMed Central – Supporter Membership cancelled

In these difficult financial times it is imperative that we allocate the library’s collection budget in a manner that will provide the best tools for the majority of our users.  Unfortunately that means having to make difficult decisions regarding resource cancellations.  The CU system libraries have decided to cancel their supporter membership to BioMed Central effective April 10, 2012.  Please rest assured that almost all of BioMed Central’s content is open access so Anschutz Medical Campus users will continue to maintain access to the journal articles.  The CU system libraries are cancelling our supporter membership which gave authors a 15% discount on the author fees to publish in a BioMed Central journal.  What the CU system libraries found after reviewing our supporter membership is that very few faculty took advantage of the discount and that even with the discount faculty members still had to pay a large fee.

The CU system libraries, including the Health Sciences Library, is very committed to open access (OA) and we are looking for other ways to support publishing in OA journals.  If you have questions or would like more information please contact Melissa De Santis, Deputy Director at (303) 724-1748 or melissa.desantis@ucdenver.edu.

Adler Mentored Scholarly Activity Award (Attention SOM Class of 2014)

FROM: Bruce Evans, MD, Chair, Adler MSA Award Committee

Dear Students:

It is my pleasure to remind you of the availability of a new scholarship fund, The Adler Mentored Scholarly Activity Award for Improving the Health of Patient and Communities (Adler MSA Award).

Stipends will be awarded for scholarly projects that will focus on improved health of patients or the community, overcome health disparities, and which contribute to our understanding of health and medicine. The award will be based on the current Mentored Scholarly Activity model, research fellowships will be made for research and scholarly activities in the following areas:
• Clinical Science
• Epidemiology and Public Health
• Humanities, Social Sciences and Medical Education
Projects that are in the area of Basic Biomedical Science will not be considered.

The award includes:
Up to 6 week MSA project internship ($500/week through financial aid office)
Reasonable costs associated with completing the proposed project

Applications will be two to three pages describing the medical research project and must include:
1. A specific question to be addressed
2. A detailed scholarly proposal, including background, methods, and analysis
3. A timeline for project completion
4. A budget (only if requesting support for project expenses)
5. A means of evaluation
6. A plan to disseminate scholarly results
7. A letter of support from the faculty mentor
8. A plan to address any additional Mentored Scholarly Activity or School of Medicine requirements.

Successful applications will include a strong involvement by community members as evidenced by letters of support, history of work with the applicant or detailed plans for engaging the community. Applications must include: a support letter from a faculty sponsor, and should comment on plans for dissemination of the research results, outcomes and evaluation both within the institution and to the broader community.

The application process is open now. The deadline for application submission is March 21st, 2011. Applications should be delivered to Terri Wood, Office of Student Affairs, Room 5312 ED2North. If you have any questions, Dr. Maureen Garrity, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, will be happy to answer them.