Is my science scientific enough?

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Post by Kristina Larson

An open hand with the outlines of two human heads hovering over it. Cogs are floating between the heads.
The two heads, both with cogs where their brains are, are sharing the cogs with each other, showing that they are sharing their knowledge. (Image credit: Sasun Bughdaryan)

There is a vulnerability to sharing parts of yourself with others, even when it comes to sharing your science. For our scientific communication class, we were tasked with creating a scientific communication project that involved our community. In the beginning, I bounced back and forth between a couple of different ideas, but I kept gravitating to my first idea: How we can help reduce small animal mortality by keeping our cats inside.

I love cats, I have three of my own and volunteer at a local non-profit animal shelter. However, knowing that they cause billions of animal fatalities annually (II) weighs on me and I had to ask myself what I could do to help fix it. While feral cat colonies are the primary threat to this loss of biodiversity, owned cats also contribute to the problem (III), so I wanted to focus on what individual cat owners could do to make a difference.

As we got further into the semester, we began sharing our ideas and plans for the project. As I heard my peers’ ideas, I found myself becoming more and more hesitant to share mine. I kept asking myself one question. Is my science scientific enough? I started doubting myself and the topic I was most interested in because I was comparing it to other topics I heard.

Logically, I knew that my topic was no less valid than anyone else’s, yet I was still struggling with it. But I realized something, the only person judging me, was me. When we ourselves are in a vulnerable situation, we focus on the negative aspects. When others are vulnerable, we view that vulnerability in a positive light (I). Slowing down and recognizing that there is strength in vulnerability, and that it is essential and inevitable is an important part of science communication. This class has made me realize that no matter how small or how irrelevant something seems it is still worth putting it out into the world. If we never took risks or decided to be vulnerable, progress would never be made.

Kristina Larson is a junior at the University of Wyoming, studying Zoology.

references

Bruk, A., Scholl, S. G., & Bless, H. (2018). Beautiful mess effect: Self–other differences in evaluation of showing vulnerability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(2), 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000120

Loss, S. R., Will, T., & Marra, P. P. (2013). The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States. Nature Communications, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2380

Trouwborst, A., McCormack, P. C., & Martínez Camacho, E. (2020). Domestic cats and their impacts on Biodiversity: A blind spot in the application of nature conservation law. People and Nature, 2(1), 235–250. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10073

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